Absolution
by The Struggling Warrior
Summary: Sequel to Obsession: In the wake of war, Danny Phantom works to overcome his rising guilt and numbness, as he joins an unusual team of young heroes. At the same time, Dani begins to notice the attention Amity Park has received as she struggles to stop her growing insecurities. All the while, neither of them can possibly understand the dark forces working in the background.
1. Preview

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"There is just one thing that can ease the pain of the heart. Unfortunately, it's a bothersome cure for you can only receive it from another."

"…What is it?"

"Love."

Yashamaru and Gaara (Naruto)

* * *

Chapter 1: "Preview"

**Sequel to _Obsession_****  
**

**The Struggling Warrior presents...**

_(I want to start off by saying that I'm sorry.)_

"I don't care what you think about me right now!" Phantom growled to his teammates. "Right now, we have a mission to do."

"You lied to us!" Kid Flash yelled. "How are we supposed to trust you?"

"We all have our secrets." Phantom glared.

"Yet, everything about you is a secret." Superboy frowned.

"I'm dead. My secrets should stay dead." Phantom explained.

"You're working with the living, though." Miss Martian pointed out.

"And apparently that was a mistake…" Phantom sighed.

"The blame does not lie solely on Danny." Aqualad intervened.

"Yeah, you're not innocent in all this either, Kaldur." Robin snorted.

"You're all playing the innocent card, that's just hilarious." Phantom drew the attention back to him. "Don't you get it?"

"Get what?" Artemis asked.

"The fact that despite what anyone says or does, none of us truly trust each other."

* * *

_(It seems that I have made all the wrong decisions as my time as Danny Phantom.)_

"Freakshow!" Phantom lunged at the circus ringleader.

"No no no…" Freakshow wagged his finger as Phantom passed right through him.

"Stop this!" Phantom growled as he glared at his enemy.

"No, I don't think I will." Freakshow grinned insanely. "Not until I've had my revenge on you and had the world kneel before me."

* * *

_(Going into the portal… The C.A.T.'s…leading the ghosts into the GIW War…)_

First there was the surprise. Then, came the shock. Finally, the pain hit the halfa. His left shoulder seared in pain.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Phantom screamed in terror and pain. His right hand reached up and grabbed the injury. The wound was already burned close, so there was no blood. There was only pain.

Trembling, Phantom looked down at where his left arm used to be. It was gone. The appendage was merely a memory now. Just like everything else seemed to be lately.

* * *

_(Because of my choices, people have suffered.)_

"Stay down, you Superman wanna be!" Phantom sent an ectoplasmic blast toward the black haired teen.

"RAW!" The teen roared as he shook off the blast and charged at the halfa.

Creating an ice broad sword, Phantom prepared himself. Phantom focused his ice powers to his sword and swung it. A wave of blue light swept over the black haired teen. He was frozen instantly.

"You did it!" The blond in green exclaimed.

"No," Phantom growled. The ice was already beginning to crack. "It won't hold him long…"

"Then we should get out of here!" Kid Flash shouted.

"You're not the boss of me!" Phantom snapped. "I have a lot of aggression that I need to get out. And he's the perfect punching bag!"

* * *

_(Every day I feel the guilt creep up my spine and into my soul.)_

"Your words won't hurt me anymore, Spectra." Phantom noted as he held the ghost by her throat.

Despite this, the woman chuckled. "Why? Has your heart hardened so much, little hero? Do you even feel for the people you protect? Do you even care about this little team?"

"My heart…is not up for discussion." Phantom mumbled.

Phantom felt their eyes on his back. He knew that Spectra words had put doubt in their hearts. Would they even trust him anymore? Phantom didn't now…

* * *

_(I am the one that caused all of it.)_

"It was you…" Phantom mumbled in shock as he stared at the large man standing a few feet away from him. "It was all your fault…everything…"

"It was." Savage acknowledged with a grin.

"W…why?" Phantom numbly asked.

"For the betterment of mankind…"

* * *

_(So many souls were lost, yet I continue to live.)_

"Undergrowth?" Phantom questioned in shock. "What is he doing?"

"Apparently, he's attacking the whole world." Robin summarized.

"There's no way he could do that." Phantom shook his head. "I've fought him. He's strong, but not that strong."

"Are you sure?" Miss Martian asked.

"Yeah, of course my ice powers helped…plus I had help from Torch…but that doesn't change the fact that he can't operate like this. He needs to base and spread out. Not only that, this isn't his style. He always takes captives to serve his plants." Phantom examined all the mindless destruction.

"Maybe he's changed and evolved?" Superboy glanced between Phantom and the picture of Undergrowth. "Ghosts can get pretty strong from what I've seen."

* * *

_(Even with a new Obsession, I can't find it in me to forgive myself and move on.)_

"Is there a reason you joined the team?" Phantom asked his friend.

"Yeah," Artemis nodded. "Batman and GA asked me to…"

"And you weren't concerned?" Phantom asked.

"No, should I be?" Artemis questioned.

"You aren't a side…partner to a hero. You have no connection with the League." Phantom explained. "Why would they ask someone they didn't even know?"

"You don't have a connection to the League either." Artemis snapped. She was annoyed with his questioning. "Maybe they were just impressed by us."

"Exactly." Phantom hung his head. "We made an impression. They know that eventually we could become a threat. That's why they're trying to get us on their side."

* * *

_(But maybe this… team can help me.)_

"Witch boy!" Phantom shouted as he slashed at the magic dome. "Turn the world back now!"

"Oh, is the little ghost boy upset?" Klarion smirked. "Do you miss the grown ups that badly?"

"This is madness!" Phantom growled. "Billions of children are suffering!"

"Do you really care?" Klarion questioned. "You're heart doesn't seem to be in your work in Amity Park anymore. Is there too much pain there now?"

"Shut up!" Miss Martian yelled as she telekinetically threw some boulders at the sorcerer. "You don't know anything about Danny!"

"I know more than….Arg" Klarion growled at the explosive arrows rammed into his magic dome.

"You heard M'gann!" Artemis shouted. "Your mind games won't work!"

"They're right!" Kid Flash dodged the magic blasts coming at him. "Don't you try and turn us against our teammate!"

* * *

_(They trust me, even though they know about my greatest failure._

"It can't be…" Phantom knelt down and examined what was know a puddle of ectoplasmic goop.

"What is it?" Spirit questioned. "Did you know that ghost."

"I've never seen him before, but I just….I can't…." Phantom trailed off.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I don't think that I am…" Phantom glared at the puddle. "I think that…whatever that thing used to be…was a clone of me…"

* * *

_(I didn't really want to be a part of it, but maybe this can be my redemption.)_

"I know that you're the mole…" Red Arrow growled.

"Am I now?" Phantom raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, yes you are." Red Arrow glared. "And I'm going to prove it."

* * *

_(This time I can do actual good. It may make up for all my mistakes.)_

Phantom glared down at the villain. "No, the enemy of my enemy is my friend…while it's convenient."

"You don't trust me?" Bane glared.

"Why would I trust you when I barely trust myself?"

* * *

_(I will keep them safe. I will absolve my sins.)_

Phantom grimaced as their attention turned to him. He felt really out of place here. The halfa wasn't a side…partner to some major superhero.

"What about you?" Robin asked. "Are you coming?"

"Look, you know that I'm only here because the League wants to keep an eye on me." Phantom reasoned. "This seems more like your adventure rather than mine."

"You act like you don't belong here." Aqualad noted.

"I don't." Phantom shrugged. "I don't have any affiliation to the League. Speedy was right about that."

"Hey, man," Kid Flash zoomed over to his side to pat him on the back. "You've more than proved yourself as a hero. None of us have a problem with you being here. Speedy was just…angry at the League. Don't take it personally."

Phantom was flattered by their sincerity, but he was still reluctant. Last thing he needed was to be on the bad side of the League. "I don't…"

"That settles it!" Robin grabbed him by the shirt and began to drag him. "You're coming."

Phantom could have fazed through the grip. He could have let them go and stayed, but he didn't. He let them lead him towards Project Cadmus.

And so it begins…

* * *

_(This is my…)_

"Secret…"

"Why won't you just die!"

"We trust you."

"I love you, Danny."

"Please, forgive me! I'm so sorry! I never wanted to hurt you!"

"I'm leaving for my tour tomorrow. If you needed to tell me something, now would be the time to say it."

"You are my lord. My loyalty lies only with you."

"Don't you believe in me? I'm your sister!"

"You've always had that power, Danny. You were just to afraid to use it until you had to."

"I never should have stepped into that portal…"

**ABSOLUTION**


	2. Independence

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

* * *

Chapter 2: "Independence"

(Sunday-July 4, 2010)

"How bad is it?" Danny Phantom asked. The fifteen year old boy looked over at his mentor with his neon green eyes. His pure white hair was long and shaggy.

Usually, the teenager would wear his black trench coat with white trimmings, white flames on the bottom, and his famous DP logo on the back surrounded by a pentagon. But the halfa had forgone his coat to be hooked up to the machines. Without the coat, Phantom's sleeveless black shirt with white stripes down the sides and another DP logo on his chest.

The color scheme continued with the teenager's lower body. His jean were black with white trimmings and white stripes down the side. In addition, the halfa was wearing white boots on the top and black on the bottom.

"Very bad." Vlad Plasmius stated solemnly. "The power readings have dropped to half than what it was before the war."

The man in the room had an unusual appearance. His skin was blue, his eyes were red, and his hair was curved into horns. The man was wearing clothes that were the opposite of Phantom's clothes. Plasmius's cloths were mostly white and had black at the collar, belt, and boots. In addition, the man was wearing a cape that was white on the outside and red on the inside.

"That's not good…" Phantom sighed as he removed himself from the machines and placed his coat back on. "Do you know why?"

"No." Plasmius shook his head. "You're completely healthy. For some reason though, your power has dropped significantly. In fact, you can no longer be considered an S-rank ghost."

That was the difference between these men and normal individuals. These men were half-ghosts. They were humans that obtained ghost powers. In fact, they were so powerful that they could be considered to be as powerful as S-rank ghosts. An S-rank ghost was a ghost which had the power to use a Haunting Aura, the ability to impose your emotions on your enemies.

"Crap…" Phantom grunted. "Will it be that noticeable in battle?"

"To someone who already knows and recognizes your level of power? Completely, but everyone else won't be able to tell." Plasmius noted.

"I see…" Phantom muttered. "Then I'll just have to use skill instead of raw power until my full powers returns."

"And when will that be?" Plasmius worked with the various machines in the basement lab of Masters Mansion. Across the room were various equipment, weapons, and even the newly rebuilt Ghost Portal. "It has already been more than a month since the war, and your powers have only become worse."

At the end of May, the ghosts of the Ghost Zone had went to war with the UN sponsored Guys in White. The war had its fair share of consequences and outcomes for everyone. Phantom's problems stemmed from his close encounter with death…because he actually died. Luckily, the energy released by the war allowed Phantom to come back with a temporary power boost, but that didn't last long.

After Phantom released the energy into the air, his power and energy quickly began to drop. Now he was only at half his original strength. Considering the amount of time Phantom spent in battle…this was a bad thing.

Of course, Phantom believed that this problem might have stemmed from his other problem. His powers relied on two factors, his stamina and his emotions. His stamina was fine, which meant that something was wrong emotionally. The emotional problem could be described in two words…

Survivor's guilt.

Phantom had survived many situations where others died in his place. His old response was to become angry and blame others. Phantom no longer allowed himself to do that, though. No, Phantom could only blame himself, and it was showing.

"Considering this problem, do you really think it's wise to leave the city without any backup?" Plasmius questioned.

"Oh come one, Vlad." Phantom rolled his eyes. "I can't exactly take anyone with me. The invitation was only for me, and after the war, the only ghost the Justice League would completely trust besides me is Dani, and she isn't exactly ready to be running around the Hall of Justice just yet."

"I understand…" Vlad sighed. "But I still don't think this will end well."

"Vlad, I already promised to go. Besides, it's just a tour of the hall, and the Justice League will be there." Phantom shrugged. "What could happen?"

* * *

"I can't believe that you're going to the Hall of Justice without me!" Danielle 'Dani' Masters glared up to her adopted older brother. She was normal height for an eleven year old girl. The girl was wearing red shorts and a short sleeved blue shirt. On the top of her head was her normal red hat.

"I already told you that I'm sorry, Dani." Danny tried to comfort his adopted younger sibling. He was currently in his room trying to spend time to relax before he left. Considering that they were in a mansion, Danny's room was quite large. It had simple furniture, a large screen television, and various posters spread across the room. "There's not much that I can do about it, though."

"Yeah, yeah…" Dani pouted. "You can't just take me when only you were invited. By why wasn't I invited?"

"Dani…" Danny sighed. "The real reason the League invited me is because I'm a possible risk. I have proven that I'm not a direct enemy, but they want me close to keep an eye on me just in case."

"And I'm not that big of a possible threat?" Dani frowned.

"Not yet." Danny sighed. "Not yet…"

"Well…bring me a souvenir or something." Dani flopped down on Danny's couch. "Or some pictures."

"I don't know if that will be possible…" Danny noted.

"It better be possible." A female barged into Danny's room. She had pale skin, green eyes, and long blue hair pulled up into a ponytail. Her makeup, clothes, and demeanor could all be classified as a punk rocker. "Because you canceled our date for this."

"Canceled?" Danny raised an eyebrow. "Yesterday, you demanded we go out and enjoy the parties, but I told you that I already have plans."

"In my mind, that means canceled." Ember McLain huffed at her boyfriend. "And this little party at the Hall does not register as a crisis, so you're in trouble."

"…" Danny sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll try to bring back something."

"And you need to be back by the time the fireworks go off." Ember demanded.

"Yes, ma'am." Danny nodded.

"Whipped!" Dani exclaimed.

"…I know…" Danny grumbled. "It's worth it, though."

Ember smirked. "Yes it is…"

"No!" Dani jumped to her feet. "I don't want to hear this!"

Ember and Danny laughed at her.

"Really? You don't want to know about-"

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Danny's phone went off. The halfa had built the phone himself. It was one the young inventors biggest projects, the Tucker Phone. It was a sleek black phone with a touch screen. Most of its more advanced features were what really made it stand out. Extremely fast and efficient loading time, advanced voice recognition, and incredible durability were some of the phone's many features.

That and all the good publicity the tech received thanks to the work of Harriet Chin were the reasons that the newly released phone was so popular. The Tucker Phone had only recently been available on the market, and its sale's numbers were fantastic. Danny was sure that Tucker would be proud to have a piece of tech inspired by him, thus why Danny made sure to give a percentage of the revenue to Tucker's parents.

"Hello?" Danny answered his phone. "Technus? What is it?...Yeah, I have time before I have to leave….Something's wrong with the current project?...Alright, I'll be there in a minute."

"Again?" Ember sighed at her boyfriend. "I thought you hired Technus to deal with these things."

"Well, there's tension at Axion Labs." Danny shrugged as he walked to the door. "Humans and ghosts don't normally work together after all."

"Do you have to go?" Dani frowned.

"Yeah." Danny smiled at his sister before he gave his girlfriend a kiss. "I have to. Not much choice, but I'll make it clear that I won't be able to help later this afternoon."

After Danny left the room, Ember turned the younger halfa. "…Are you alright, kid?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Dani mumbled. "I just wanted to hang out with Danny a bit before he left…"

"So did I, but we'll just have to get him later." Ember shrugged.

"But that's the thing." Dani looked down. "Danny and I used to spend so much time together. Now, he's always so busy with his work, trying to make up all the school work he missed, and you, that we don't get to be together unless we go out for patrol, and even then nothing happens."

"I don't really think that's fair." Ember noted. "You spend a lot of time with those friends of yours. Most of what Danny does isn't exactly considered fun…except me, of course. I'm a riot."

"I guess you're right…about me being busy, at least." Dani rolled her eyes at the older girl. "Nyx, Raven, and Youngblood are all coming over today to get fireworks."

"Sounds fun." Ember smirked. "We can have our own private firework show. Fire in the sky, who doesn't love that?"

"Yeah…" Dani nodded.

"Great! I know some good places to…" Ember continued to talk even though Dani's thoughts drifted.

Nyx, the daughter of the ancient ghost Pandora, already had plans to get fireworks, but Dani was sure that Rachel would come up with more…legal methods of obtaining the explosives. No, Dani wasn't worried about that. She was concerned with her brother. This wouldn't be the first time that he left Amity Park without her, but lately, Dani was upset that he was leaving so often.

Did he not realize what happened? Did he truly not comprehend the events that had happened over a month ago when the Ghost Zone went to war with the Guys in White? Dani tried to, but…

_"Danny…" Spirit stumbled forward. Her premonition was screaming at her. She had to get there._

_Spirit's legs gave out and she fell on her face. Tears ran down her face. The premonition was over. It was too late._

_"No…" She sobbed._

_She had failed…_

_Despite the fact that she disobeyed her father and left the safety of the inner Ghost Zone to save Danny, she hadn't made a difference at all. Despite the fact that she had the ability to feel other people's intentions, she couldn't stop it. Despite the fact that she was Danny's sister, she couldn't save him._

_Dani, in her ghost form, felt tears run down her face as she watched her brother's body dissolve. The hulking form of the Fenton Exoskeleton stood above the rapidly fading body. Even if Spirit could move, she wouldn't get to the body._

_Soon, all that was left was a green puddle._

"_NO!"_

"No, what?" Ember raised an eyebrow at the young girl.

Dani felt sweat run down her neck. She had to fight off tears. That memory was so intense. She couldn't let herself think about that...

"Nothing! I love your idea!" Dani sprung to her feet and began strutting to the door. "But I need to go the bathroom first!"

"…Okay…" Ember watched as the young girl left.

The sound of rushing water filled the hall as Dani used the sound of her shower to drown out the echoes of her sobs and tears.

* * *

It was later that day that Danny Phantom began to approach the Hall of Justice by flying. The giant white building stood in front of a large fountain. It had a round roof and large rectangular dividers separating the building into three parts. The glass entrance and tourists seemed odd considering the fact that this was the Justice League headquarters, but who was Phantom to judge? His HQ was his home (Danny refused to call it a lair).

Because he turned invisible, Phantom was unseen by the mass below, despite the fact that the halfa was floating right above the large building. He stayed there for a moment, he idly noted that the other younger heroes had arrived with their mentors. The Flash and Kid Flash appeared to be running late.

Phantom sighed. "Today is the day…"

Deciding that it was now or never, Phantom turned intangible and flew into the building. He could have used the entrance, but he didn't want the unnecessary attention. At one time, Phantom relished in any form of positive praise, but today was not the day to boost his ego. He had enough of that in Amity Park. The city already built that billboard of him and his sister stating that it was the ghost's home.

Phantom slowly floated behind the group of heroes as they entered the building. Apparently, he missed a part of the conversation, because he heard Robin say, "You're overwhelmed. Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anyone just whelmed?"

Robin caught sight of the giant statues of the founding members of the Justice League. "Oh…that's why."

Now safely in the building, Phantom decided to turn visible, so the League wouldn't think he was trying to sneak into their building. All four mentors in front of him seemed to sense this, as they looked back and glanced at him.

Flash was dressed in his red and yellow suit. The blond Aquaman stood in his scaled orange shirt and green pants. Green Arrow appeared like a hooded Robin Hood. Batman's black cowl twisted as he noted the appearance of the ghost. None of them said anything to him, because they knew he would be coming. They all had their own protegees to feel proud of.

The heroes approached the metal door which was below the giant statue of Superman. The door read "Authorized Personnel Only." It slid open to reveal the green Martian Manhunter and the red android Red Tornado.

The Martian Manhunter spoke, "Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Phantom…Welcome."

All four of the young heroes looked surprise to see that Phantom was right behind them, but considering that he hadn't made any noise and their mentors blocked their view of him at first, they didn't voice their shock. All of them greeted him, though. Phantom was glad to see that they weren't upset to have him here. This was supposed to be their day after all. Their mentors must have already talked to them…

Speedy was dressed in in a similar outfit to Green Arrow, except that is was red and he was wearing a feathered cap. Kid Flash was dressed in a yellow version of the Flash's except his red hair was showing. Robin was wearing a black cape over his red top with his famous 'R' and black pants. Finally, Aqualad wore dark blue pants and a sleeveless red shirt hat showed his eel tattoos.

Next, all of the heroes entered the metal doors as Martian Manhunter began to explain to them about all the access they had. Phantom didn't plan to come here all that often, but paid attention anyway. It was always necessary to know what you could and could not enter…Especially when you're walking into the restricted area being talked about.

Phantom looked around the library. Compared to the Ghost Writer's library, it wasn't anything special. The halfa did note the widow that allowed the tourists to look into the library. Phantom saw that they were taking pictures. Great, he could just imagine the publicity from this…

"Make yourselves at home." The Flash smiled.

All the younger heroes besides Speedy instantly sat down in the comfortable furniture. In fact, Speedy seemed to appear mildly upset, especially when Batman mentioned that they were leaving for a minute to discuss something about ice villains…

"That's it?!" Speedy exclaimed and caused the Leaguers to turn around. "You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified backstage pass."

"It's a first step." Aquaman mentioned. "You've been granted access few others get."

"Oh really?" Speedy gestured to the window above the library. "Who cares what side of the glass we're on?"

Phantom had to concede to Speedy's point. He personally didn't care all that much, but there wasn't that much difference between them and the people behind the glass.

"Roy, you just need to be patient." Green Arrow approached the young man. Phantom idly noted that Speedy's real name was Roy, but that didn't mean much to Phantom.

"What I need is respect." Speedy stated and turned to his peers behind him. "They're treating us like kids…worse, like sidekicks. We deserve better than this."

The four younger heroes all shared a look. None of them were all that bothered by what was happening. Despite the difference only being glass, it was a difference that only a few people had.

"You're kidding, right?" Speedy glared as he punched his palm. "You're playing their game? Why? Because you think they play fair? Today was supposed to be the day! Step one to becoming full fledged members of the League."

"I wouldn't exactly call this a game. I mean, sitting in a library isn't exactly whelming." Phantom noticed Robin's brief amusement over the reference. "But I don't think any of us came here expecting a life or death mission."

"Yeah…" Kid Flash nodded at Phantom. "Isn't step one a tour of the HQ?"

"Except that the Hall isn't the League's real HQ!" Speedy exclaimed. "I bet they never told you that the hall is just a front for tourist and a pit stop to catching Zeta beam telleporter tubes to the real thing… the orbiting satellite called the Watchtower!"

Phantom's eyebrows rose in shock. The League had a secret base in space? That sounded…so cool…Not to mention that was good info to know. Phantom had to wonder if the Ghost Zone's greatest strategist Vision knew about this.

During Phantom's thoughts, he missed Green Arrow's confession to Batman and Aquaman's chastisement of Speedy, but Phantom regained focus as Speedy snapped. "Or what? You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son! I'm not even his." He looked at Green Arrow. "I thought I was his partner…but not anymore."

Speedy threw his yellow hat on the ground, much to everyone's shock.

"Guess they're right about you three, you're not ready…" Speedy strode past Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash, but stopped at Phantom and glared. "And you! You're a hero on your own, in fact, you have your own younger partner. Are you just going to sit there and act like second best?"

"Look, I'm not here to judge you, them, or the League. I was only invited a few days ago, and I don't know if I actually deserve to be here." Phantom met Speedy's glare without flinching.

"You're damn right you don't!" Speedy seemed outraged. "You are a symbol to us that the young can be just as tough as the League. I used to respect you, but it turns out that you're not who I thought you were."

"And who did you think I was?" Phantom questioned.

"A weakling that can't stand up for himself when the grownups say not to." Speedy explained. "Or are you going to prove me wrong and leave like me?"

"I ain't leaving just because you're throwing a temper tantrum…" Phantom noted. He remembered a time when he used to let his anger get the better of him like that, but now he knew that the anger did not make life any easier.

"Whatever!" Speedy began to storm out of the room. "Who needs you!?"

'Who needs me, indeed…' Phantom sighed at the thought.

The next few minutes passed in a blur. Superman called in that Project Cadmus had an accident and there was a fire. Batman seemed intrigued at the chance to investigate, but was interrupted by Zatara, who called and informed them that a sorcerer named Wotan was trying to block out the sun. Cadmus was put on hold as the Leaguers left with the instructions not to leave.

This, of course, did not sit well with the young heroes. They argued with their mentors, but what really drew Phantom's attention was Green Arrow's mention of a 'you-know-who' and Red Tornado's almost…reluctant look…maybe? It was hard to tell with an android.

Phantom didn't know if he was looking too much into things right now, but Vlad had drilled into him to examine every scenario. You could only have that pounded into you so many times before you get the message.

"Tch!" Kid Flash frowned. "When we're ready...How are we ever supposed to be ready if they treat us like…" He flung his hands in the air. "Like sidekicks!"

Aqualad bowed his head in disappointment. "My mentor…my king…I thought he trusted me."

"Trust? They don't even trust us with the basics! They've got a secret HQ in space!" Kid Flash pointed up.

Phantom would have intervened here, but he knew it wasn't his place. If Vlad had a secret like that, Phantom would surely be upset. The reason wouldn't matter. To have your mentor…your teacher…the person you trusted most just lie to you like that…Phantom knew that it would be upsetting.

"What else aren't they telling us?" Aqualad wondered.

"I have a better question..." Robin looked at his companions. "Why didn't we leave with Speedy?"

"Because your respect for them outweighs your anger." Phantom put in his two cents. "They may have hurt your trust, but you care about your mentors too much to turn you back on them. I'm not saying that your anger isn't justified, but I do get the vibe from Speedy that he has respect problems."

None of the other young heroes argued with that. Robin even nodded. "You're right, but I still don't like this."

"Then do something about it." Phantom shrugged.

"But what?" Kid Flash questioned.

"I've always found that the best way to win respect is a good old fashioned fight." Phantom mentioned as he remembered his encounters with Colossus and Torch.

They did not look pleased at the idea of fighting their mentors.

"A good second option would be to show them what you can handle." Phantom suggested. "Batman seemed pretty into that thing about Cadmus."

This got the attention of the young heroes. Robin went to the computer and hacked it to let them look at the files. It made sense that the computer was similar to the Batcave considering that Batman was in charge.

"Alright, Project Cadmus, genetics lab, here in DC…" Robin read the file. "That's all there is…But if Batman's suspicious, maybe we should investigate."

"Solve their case before they do." Aqualad noted. "It would be poetic justice."

"Hey, hehe, they're all about justice." Robin laughed.

Aqualad sighed. "But they said stay put."

"For the blotting out the sun mission, not this!" Robin smiled.

"Wait, are you going to Cadmus? Because if you're going, I'm going!" Kid Flash was excited.

"Just like that? We're a team on a mission?" Aqualad questioned.

"We didn't come here for a playdate." Robin smirked.

'No, I thought there would be food involved, though.' Phantom thought.

Aqualad just smirked at his fellow heroes.

Phantom grimaced as their attention turned to him. He felt really out of place here. The halfa wasn't a side…partner to some major superhero.

"What about you?" Robin asked. "Are you coming?"

"Look, you know that I'm only here because the League wants to keep an eye on me." Phantom reasoned. "This seems more like your adventure rather than mine."

"You act like you don't belong here." Aqualad noted.

"I don't." Phantom shrugged. "I don't have any affiliation to the League. Speedy was right about that."

"Hey, man," Kid Flash zoomed over to his side to pat him on the back. "You've more than proved yourself as a hero. None of us have a problem with you being here. Speedy was just…angry at the League. Don't take it personally."

Phantom was flattered by their sincerity, but he was still reluctant. Last thing he needed was to be on the bad side of the League. "I don't…"

"That settles it!" Robin grabbed him by the shirt and began to drag him. "You're coming."

Phantom could have fazed through the grip. He could have let them go and stayed, but he didn't. He let them lead him towards Project Cadmus.

And so it begins…

* * *

"So smooth." Robin smirked as they watched Kid Flash dangle out a window.

Phantom didn't blame the speedster for running ahead. Two of the scientist from Project Cadmus had been blasted out a window. Kid Flash had run ahead to save them, but ended up in a rather unusual situation. Fortunately, he managed to get them to the roof.

"At least the scientists are saved." Phantom defended Kid's actions.

"Yes, but does he always have to run ahead?" Aqualad questioned. "We need a plan."

"If he didn't, I would have." Phantom mentioned. "Besides, Robin's doing the same thing."

The two older teens watched as Robin ran and flipped his way to the building. After using his grappling hook, the Boy Wonder landed on the window which Kid Flash was dangling from. In a moment, they both disappeared.

"Okay…a plan." Phantom shrugged. "I get the dudes off the roof and you put out the fire?"

"Fair enough." Aqualad nodded.

Phantom flew alongside the running Atlantian. When they reached the nearby fire trucks, they separated. Phantom quickly lowered the scientists to the ground as Aqualad used his Water-Bearers to calm control the firehouses water to douse the flames and raise himself up to the window.

As both the young heroes entered the building, Aqualad stated. "Appreciate the help."

"In his defense, we are a water user and an ice user." Phantom shrugged. "Not like the fire was a problem for us."

"Exactly!" Robin smirked. "Besides, were here to investigate."

"That is not the point…" Aqualad sighed.

"You guys find anything?" Phantom questioned as he joined their search.

"Nothing." Kid Flash muttered. "Nothing that's not boring and dumb at least."

They all paused as they heard the sound of an elevator door closing. Kid Flash, Robin, and Phantom quickly joined Aqualad at the doorway.

"There was something in the…" Aqualad stared at the elevator.

"Elevator should be locked down." Kid Flash noted.

"Apparently it is for us." Phantom noted as the elevator refused to open for them.

"This is wrong." Robin instantly tried to examine the elevator using his gauntlet computer. "Thought so…This is a high speed, express elevator. It doesn't belong in a two story building."

"Neither does what I saw." Aqualad stated as he forced the elevator open.

"And what did you see, exactly?" Phantom questioned.

"I have no clue." Aqualad noted as they all looked down the elevator shaft. It was so deep that they couldn't see the bottom.

"And that's why they need an express elevator." Robing used his grapple to hook to the top of the elevator shaft and began to descend. Aqualad and Kid Flash quickly followed on the rope, but Phantom decided to float down.

"Show off…" Kid Flash muttered as Phantom defied gravity.

"Not showing off if you back it up." Phantom commented.

When they reached as far as the rope extended, they stopped and the level SL 26. Robin went to hack it, but Phantom stated. "You do realize that I can pass through…what?"

"What's wrong?" Aqualad questioned.

"I can't turn intangible." Phantom muttered. "But this is regular metal. Something's messing with my powers…Crap, I wonder what else isn't working?"

"That makes this even more suspicious." Robin hacked the door and allowed them in.

"Does anyone else think it's weird that Robin's computer has little pictures of himself as loading screen?" Phantom questioned.

"…Now that you mention it…" Aqualad stated.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Kid Flash chuckled.

"Yes, just make fun of me. No 'Thanks, Robin, for getting us in there undetected'." Robin muttered. "Alright, go!"

Phantom forced the doors open and was shocked. This lab seemed futuristic like his except…darker. It looked more like an evil lair compared to anything. "Wow…"

"Welcome to Project Cadmus." Robin noted.

Kid Flash ran ahead of them before anyone could react. He was quickly stopped by giant grey beasts. The speedster was that he wasn't trampled.

"Well…" Phantom frowned. "Those things are unusual."

* * *

"Psh!" Ember growled as she looked at her phone. She paced around the living room of the mansion which contained leather furniture, imported carpet, and expensive pictures. "Danny hasn't texted me back yet."

"Busy?" A giant black furred werewolf named Wulf questioned. He was dressed in a simple green shirt and pants.

"Or he might not be able to use his phone in the Hall?" Dani suggested weakly. She didn't really believe that, though.

"Then he should sneak into the bathroom or something…" Ember growled.

"There's still time until the party starts." Dani sighed. "Hopefully he'll be back by then."

"Hm…Friend won't late." Wulf's first language wasn't English, but he was trying to learn.

"He better-"

Rumble! Crash!

The ground trembled and shook. All the ghosts steadied themselves. Dani looked around the room as he caught a falling vase. "What was that?"

The building shook again.

Wulf's growled. "Not earthquake."

"Then what was it?" Ember questioned.

"I really hope that isn't Nyx trying to set off the fireworks early." Dani frowned.

"**ROAR**!"

"…" Wulf looked off in the distance. "Not Nyx."

"What the hell is that?" Ember questioned.

"I don't know, but it's heading for the city!" Dani shouted.

It was true, a large hulking figure was heading straight towards the main part of Amity Park. It was hopping large distance, and each time it landed, it caused the ground to tremble. From this distance, the only thing the ghosts could tell about the figure was that it was huge, muscular, and extremely pale.

"Is that a ghost?" Ember questioned.

"No know…" Wulf's grammar was bad, but it got the point across.

"If it was, why isn't it flying, and why didn't my Ghost Sense go off?" Dani questioned. "But that doesn't matter. I have to stop it."

"What?" Ember raised an eyebrow.

"Look at that thing, it's crushing cars like they're cardboard." Dani shifted her stance deeper. "If it gets to the city, people might be hurt."

"I don't think-"

"I'm going ghost!" Dani's form shifted as a white ring traveled from the top of her head to her feet. Her hat disappeared, and her hair turned white. The girl now had neon green eyes a scarf that hid her face. A black and white bomber jacket with the DP logo on the left side covered the girls black shirt. The right sleeve of the jacket was ripped off and showed black and white tape running down her right arm. Finally, a white skirt was on top of the girl's black spandex pants.

Danielle Masters had turned into her alter ego, Spirit the partner of Danny Phantom.

"Wait!"

That was too late, though. Spirit quickly flew and fazed through the roof. The halfa instantly chased after the retreating wall of muscle. She was surprised by the speed the monster was going at. It took her a few minutes to catch the monster, and by the time she caught him, he was almost at the edge of the city.

Spirit interrupted the pale monster by ramming into him mid-jump. She covered her hands in green ectoplasm as she rammed into the monster. Her blow did cause the monster to falter, but he did not seem injured at all. No, the hit did make him take a few steps back, but that was it.

The monster turned to her. He stood at eight feet tall. He wore a torn vest and ripped pants that did nothing to hide his bulging muscles. The skin of the monster was deathly pale, and his face was sunken and depressed. Yet despite this, Spirit's attention was caught by the monster's familiar neon green eyes.

"What?" Spirit tilted her head. Where had she seen those eyes before?

The monster growled at her. "Solomon Grundy…"

"Born on Monday…" He took a massive step toward her.

"Christened on Tuesday…" The monster took a deep stance.

"Married on Wednesday…" He jumped into the air.

"Took ill on Thursday…" Spirit quickly dodged to the side as he came crashing down at her stop.

"Grew worse on Friday…" The monster brought his massive fists down at the ground and caused it to shake and crack.

"Died on Saturday…" He swiped at her, but she dodged.

"Buried on Sunday…" The monster looked up to the sky and extended his arms.

"That was the end…" The monster then shouted into the air. "OF SOLOMON GRUNDY!"

* * *

"What could could happen…WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING!?" Phantom ran alongside Robin and Aqualad as they went deeper into the bowls of Project Cadmus.

"You actually said that?" Robin questioned. "You were just asking for this to happen, then."

"I know that now!" Phantom groaned.

Ever since he arrived at the lower levels of Project Cadmus with the other young heroes, Phantom noticed that everything that could go wrong had went terribly wrong. It turned out that Project Cadmus was actually manufacturing living weapons called Genomorphs that had razor sharp claws, super strength, and telepathy abilities.

Not only that, but it turned out that the hero Guardian was working for Cadmus as well. At first, Guardian seemed surprised and sympathetic…then he was confused. Then came the random anger and orders to attack them. Phantom was surprised by this random change. It was like he was a different person.

Luckily, they managed to escape…only to get deeper into the bowls of Project Cadmus. Phantom argued against this. Something was messing with his powers. He no longer could use intangibility or flight. This was not a situation he wanted to be in without all of his basic powers, especially with his already diminished powers. No, he wanted to go get the Justice League, but the others seemed determined to finish this mission. Phantom knew that he couldn't go off alone in these circumstances and continued to follow the others.

Robin, Aqualad, and Phantom ran around a corner. They saw that Kid Flash had knocked down a female scientist in front of a closing metal door. The young speedster quickly grabbed a metal container and used it to keep the door open for them. "Hurry!"

Robin, Aqualad, and Phantom all followed Kid Flash through the metal door. They managed to enter just as the Genomorphs and Guardian running around the corner. Aqualad quickly knocked the metal container out of the way, while Robin locked the door.

"I disabled the door. We're safe." Robin sighed.

"We're trapped." Kaldur clarified.

"Better on this side of the huge ass door than the other." Phantom noted. "Now we can come up with a plan."

"Uh…Guys? You'll want to see this." Kid Flash called them over to what appeared to be a containment pod. The speedster hit the on switch and everyone was shocked.

"Woah…" Robin muttered.

Phantom had to agree with the Boy Wonder. Inside the large pod in front of them stood a younger version of Superman. His black hair and face appeared to be completely the same as the Man of Steel. The only differences between them were the fact that the person in the pod was smaller and was wearing a white outfit with Superman's shield.

Kid Flash and Phantom approached the boy in the pod. Phantom noted the tiny Genomorphs sitting above the boy, but they seemed to ignore them. Then, Phantom looked at the symbol on the pod.

"Kr…" Phantom stared at the symbol.

"The atomic symbol for Krypton." Kid Flash was awestruck. He turned. "Clone?"

"Robin. Hack." Aqualad ordered.

"Oh…right, got it." Robin quickly got to work. "Weapon designation: Superboy, a clone forced grown in…16 weeks! From DNA acquired from Superman."

"Stolen from Superman." Aqualad clarified.

"Damn…" Phantom turned to look at the clone. He remember many months ago when he was staring at another clone in a pod. That clone had turned out to one the Phantom's most loved people.

"No way the big guy knows about this." Kid Flash stated.

"The solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7." Robin led.

"And these…creatures." Aqualad pointed at the little grey creatures above the Superboy.

"They have telepathy right? Maybe they're teaching him." Phantom suggested. "He can't have knowledge of the world after being forced grown."

"Exactly." Robin nodded.

"Not to mention everything else they've probably been teaching him." Kid Flash frowned. "They're making a slave out of…"

"Superman's son." Phantom interjected. "And this is wrong…"

"You're right." Aqualad noted. "Now we contact the League."

Phantom pulled out his phone as the others tried to use their communication devices. Phantom looked at the miniature hologram on his phone. "No signal…"

"We're too deep." Kid Flash sighed.

"Damn it…" Phantom knew that they should have bailed while they had the chance. "Robin…does he need the pod to survive?"

Robin looked at the data on the screen. "No, he's completely fine physically."

"Then I think we should set him free." Phantom stated. "Any arguments?"

"None." Aqualad nodded.

"Nope." Kid Flash stated.

"Alright then…" Robing quickly pressed some holographic buttons on his gauntlet computer.

The pod hissed and let out smoke as it opened. Now completely freed, the Superboy opened his eyes. Those blue eyes quickly looked at them.

…The next thing Phantom knew, the Superboy had tackled Aqualad to the ground…

The other heroes quickly tried to pull Superboy off Aqualad as Superboy began to hit the Atlantian. Phantom shouted. "I know you're confused and scared, but-"

"RAW!" Superman backhanded the ghost and sent him flying away. Phantom crashed into the wall and slid to the floor.

"I don't want to do this…" Robin used knock out gas to disorientate Superboy. Aqualad quickly kicked the Kryptonian clone away.

Kid Flash quickly followed Superboy and knocked him down again. Robin tried to tase Superboy, but it had effect whatsoever. In one quick moment, Superboy got up, tossed Kid Flash away, and pulled Robin to him. The clone then tried to crush the Boy Wonder's chest with his super-powered foot.

Phantom caught Kid Flash before he could go crashing through glass. "You alright."

"Ug…I feel like I got hit by a sludge hammer…" Kid Flash as he got to his feet.

"Enough!" Aqualad formed his Water Bearers into a giant sludge hammer and hit Superboy to his metal seat.

"Imagine how he's feeling…." Phantom's hands and eyes glowed blue as he began to use his ice powers. Before Superboy could react, Phantom froze him to his previous container.

"Raw!" Superboy growled.

"Well…that's that." Kid Flash walked up to the frozen Superboy.

"We…were are trying to help you." Aqualad explained to the clone. "Please, stop struggling."

"This is bad." Phantom noted as he examined the unconscious Robin. "We won't be able to get out without Robin, and with Superboy holding us back…"

"Yeah," Kid Flash agreed. "Not to mention, they'll open the door soon-"

The speedster was surprised when Superboy managed to break the ice holding him. Kid Flash was quickly sucker punched by the clone. The yellow clad hero was unconscious before he hit the floor.

"Damn it!" Phantom rocketed at Superboy and punched the Kryptonian with an ectoplasm powered punch. "Stay down!"

Superboy ignored the order and continued to attack the ghost. They exchanged several blows before Aqualad sneaked behind them and grabbed Superboy into a Full Nelson grab. The Atlantian's eel tattoos began to glow as he electrocuted the clone.

That didn't work long, however, because Superboy launched them into the air and crashed Aqualad into the ceiling. Phantom intercepted them before Superboy landed and pulled Aqualad away from the clone.

"We can't afford to hold back against him!" Phantom exclaimed.

"You…were holding back…" Aqualad groaned in pain. "What else can we do?"

"I can use my Ghostly Wail." Phantom laid Aqualad down. "Stay down. Hopefully, this won't hurt him too badly."

Aqualad nodded as he tried to regain his bearings. Phantom turned to the Superboy. The clone was glaring at him and was about to charge. Luckily, he was away from Robin and Kid Flash, so Phantom didn't have to hold back. "Sorry about this."

Phantom took a large breath of air into his usually unnecessary ghost lungs. He then went for his most devastating attack…only to be hit by a splitting headache. "Ah!"

Phantom's head felt like it had been cracked opened. He could only hear ringing. There was no way he could concentrate long enough to use his Ghostly Wail.

The halfa had ran out of time, though. Superboy sent a barrage of punches at Phantom. They sent him crashing into the Atlantian behind the ghost. Phantom could tell that he had accidently knocked out the Atlantian, but there was nothing that could be done about that.

Struggling to get up, Phantom managed to get to his knees. Superboy stood above him. He was holding a fist right in front of Phantom's face like he meant to hit Phantom and stopped. The clone was staring at him. "Phan…tom…Mer…cy…"

"What?" Phantom raised an eyebrow.

Superboy then clutched his head in pain. In a fit of anger, the clone continued his punch and hit Phantom on his temple. The halfa collapsed onto the ground.

Before he passed out, Phantom saw Superboy walk over to the metal door and open it. Then, everything was dark.

* * *

Spirit was quickly joined by Wulf and her green dog Cujo during her fight with Solomon Grundy. That was a good thing considering that nothing she did seemed to hurt the massive being. Granted, none of Grundy's attacks could hit her. Spirit's natural grace and her Premonition ability made Grundy's slow attacks futile.

Unfortunately, that meant they were at a standstill. Neither opponent could hurt the other. It would be a battle of who had the most stamina, and considering the fact that Grundy didn't look tired at all, Spirit was sure that she would eventually wear herself out or find a way to hurt Grundy. Luckily, Wulf and Cujo's appearance destroyed that option.

With the three on one attack and their good teamwork, Wulf, Cujo, and Spirit seemed to be pushing Grundy back, but the monster didn't appear to feel pain. It wasn't that their attacks didn't do any damage, it was just that Grundy didn't feel pain, and his injuries healed at an incredibly rapid pace.

Spirit quickly kicked Grundy in the face and dodged the massive hand swiping at her. "Where's Ember?"

"Went get help!" Wulf roared as he rammed into Grundy from behind.

Cujo took this opportunity to swipe the massive monster on the side of his head. The massive monster stumbled to the side with a grunt. He didn't even appear to acknowledge the bruises and claw marks as they rapidly healed.

"I have to admit!" Spirit sent a barrage of blasts at Grundy. "It's nice to fight again! The past month has been soooooo boring!"

"Rough!" Cujo barked as bit Grundy's large ankle. The monster actually grunted in pain and went to punch the huge dog. Wulf intercepted him, though, and jumped on the monster's back. Grundy struggled to get the furred ghosts off him, but it was too late.

Spirit was not in front of him and sent several punches at Grundy's muscled midsection. She managed to get dozens of hits in before Grundy finally he finally shouted in outrage. In a show of great strength, Grundy threw three ghosts away a single motion. All three ghosts went tumbling away.

"Wow!" Wulf exclaimed as he pushed himself up.

Spirit couldn't help but agree. Grundy's strength was incredible. She was glad that she didn't get hit. If she did get hit…it would definitely hurt.

Grundy began to smash the ground in anger. He beat on the ground like a drum and caused the earth to shake. This did not influence the ghosts, though, because they were floating above the ground.

All three ghosts charged at the giant monster. They sent a barrage of attacks at Grundy. Grundy tried to knock them away, but none of them were hit. In fact, Spirit was gleefully dancing around the monster's strikes.

For her, this was as close as things had been to normal for a month. This was her element. This was where she thrived. This was where…

"RAW!" Wulf found a large opening in Grundy's defense. The wolf ghost's dimensional claws extended. He clashed his claws from Grundy's right should to the monster's left ribs. All the ghosts were surprised to see green blood gush out of Grundy's wounds.

As the large monster held his wounds, Spirit stared. That wound…The green blood…The terrible pain…

_Dani, in her ghost form, felt tears run down her face as she watched her brother's body dissolve. The hulking form of the Fenton Exoskeleton stood above the rapidly fading body. Even if Spirit could move, she wouldn't get to the body._

_Soon, all that was left was a green puddle._

"_NO!"_

"Move!" Wulf cried, but Spirit ignored him. She even ignored her Premonition as it screamed at her to get out of the way of Grundy's strike.

"Ah!" Spirit cried as Grundy's massive hand grabbed her.

"No!" Wulf and Cujo desperately tried to save their friend, but Grundy managed to knock them away when they left an opening.

Spirit struggled to escape the monster's grasp, but she couldn't overpower him and couldn't focus enough to turn intangible. "Ahg!"

"RAW!" Grundy brought his other fist and tried to smash Spirit's head. She watched in fear as the giant hand almost came closer to her head.

Suddenly, the fist stopped. Grundy blinked at her. "Eh?"

He brought her really close to his face. Spirit could see every wrinkle on his face, his yellow teeth, and familiar green eyes. Where did she know those eyes?

"Where does Grundy know girl?" The monster grunted.

"What?" Spirit whispered.

"Grundy knows girl. Grundy…can't…hurt girl." Grundy trailed off and looked away. "Grundy don't hurt Dani."

Spirit's eyes widened. "How do you…"

"AHHH!" Grundy released Spirit and clutched his arm. There was a deep gash on the monster's bicep. Green blood was pouring out of the wound, but it quickly healed.

"Well…" A deep and rather dramatic voice called out. "It appears that fears are beyond, you heathen. Is it bravery, or lack of intelligence?"

The Fright Knight was covered in black armor. He wore grey gauntlets, boots, and helmet. His helmet hid his face, but did nothing to hide his fiery purple hair. In his right hand was a pure green sword. It was the Soul Shredder. Normally, the sword could sent a person to an alternate dimension of fear, but Grundy seemed immune to that effect.

The Fright Knight grabbed Spirit and pulled her back. A little over a week ago, the Fright Knight had sworn his loyal to Danny Phantom. Thus, his loyalty was also to Phantom's family and friends. Thus his interference.

"Grundy crush you!" Grundy went to lunge at the Fright Knight, but was stopped when a blast of pink magenta energy crashed into him and sent him tumbling.

"Please." Vlad Plasmius floated above Grundy. "You no longer have even a chance of victory."

"RAW!" Grundy tried to get up, but the Fright Knight sent a large flaming jewel at the monster to keep him down.

Wulf took this opportunity to pounce on the monster. Showing his own strength, Wulf managed to get Grundy on his back and hold the monster's pale hands behind his back. Plasmius then took this opportunity to use his energy to lock Grundy's hands and feet together. Grundy was trapped.

"Tsk." The Fright Knight approached the monster. "That was boring."

"He might have been dangerous to one of us individually, but he didn't have a chance with all of us here." Plasmius noted.

"Indeed." Fright Knight nodded, then he turned to the approaching Ember. "Thank you, siren. Your warning was very helpful."

"Well, with Danny gone, I thought that it was best to get some help." Ember shrugged. "Guess it was a good idea."

"Indeed." Plasmius eyed the struggling monster. "Perhaps we should contact the League to pick this guy up. He is not a ghost."

"Yet I sense some ectoplasm from him." The Fright Knight noted.

Wulf and Cujo sniffed the monster. "Magic too."

"Hmm…" Plasmius looked down at Grundy. "Quite the combination. Usually, that doesn't work. Tell me, what are you?"

"Grundy kill you!" Solomon Grundy exclaimed.

"Fair enough."

Meanwhile, Spirit stood back and watched Grundy as he struggled against his restraints. She knew where she had seen those eyes before. It was eyes that she saw every day when she looked in the mirror.

The halfa didn't know how…but Grundy was connected to her somehow.

* * *

(Monday-July 5, 2010)

Phantom didn't know where he was. He did know that he was sitting in a simple chair. All around him was darkness. It was so cold….How was it cold? It was the beginning of July.

The halfa blinked and looked around. He could see nothing. There were no sounds. He was completely alone.

"No you're not." A voice called out to him.

A figure appeared out of the darkness. Phantom recognized the figure immediately. It was himself.

"What?" Phantom questioned. "Why do you look like me?"

"Is that what you see?" The fake Phantom questioned. "How unusual. Your mind must be fighting to make sense of the situation."

"Make sense? Dude, nothing is making sense right now." Phantom noted.

"What do you remember?" The fake Phantom questioned.

"I remember…Project Cadmus….Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash…Superboy…." Phantom frowned. "I lost."

"Yes, I apologize for that." The fake Phantom vanished. Behind the real Phantom appeared a look alike of Spirit. "I had to interfere to stop you from winning."

"You interfered…but we were alone." Phantom reasoned.

"Yes, but I used my telepathy to lock a few of your base powers and stop you from using that devastating attack of yours." The fake Spirit explained.

"So that's why I couldn't fly or turn intangible…" Phantom frowned at the figure behind him.

"Yes, in my experience, telepaths cannot normally interfere with a ghost's mind. There is too much turmoil and emotions. But your mind is different. It is calm….numb even." The figure walked around Phantom. The fake Spirit changed into Plasmius.

"I see…" Phantom sighed.

"In fact…" The darkness fades and the world around them came to light. "It is like a frozen wasteland."

Phantom examined his surroundings. It appeared to be Amity Park, except everything was frozen. In addition, the buildings seemed to be damaged and hurt, but they were still standing. Above them floated a green sky with shifting energy, which could be compared to the Ghost Zone.

"Where are we?" Phantom questioned.

"Your mind." Fake Plasmius answered. "Unusual, isn't it?"

"I never thought it would be so…" Phantom struggled to find the right word.

"Isolated? Silent? Calm?" Plasmius shifted into a fake Ember.

"Yeah…" Phantom stood from his chair. "But it makes sense if you think about it."

"Yes it does, I have read some of your more recent memories. Nothing personal, just on why you mind is this way. I apologize for the intrusion of privacy." Fake Ember apologized.

Phantom frowned. "I don't like it, but at least you had manners about it."

"Hmm…You are not angry." Fake Ember shifted into an image of Wulf. "And there was no change in your mindscape…"

"I haven't gotten angry for a while." Phantom admitted.

"Yes…" Fake Wulf looked around the frozen and destroyed city. "It looks as if a great ice storm of emotions has passed through here. You must have felt constant emotion, turmoil, anger, and pain. Now, though, you have forced the storm to completely disappear. Now, nothing remains."

Phantom nodded. "I used anger for power. With that gone…I don't have much left."

"Is this because of the war?" Fake Wulf's form shifted one final time. He now appeared to have blue skin, muscular build, white hair, red eyes, and a forked toungue.

The ice around them cracked a little.

"I refuse to talk about that." Phantom said evenly as he stared into the face of his greatest fear.

Dark Dan raised an eyebrow. "Yet that is all that I'm concerned about. You see, you give us hope."

"Who?" Phantom questioned.

"The Genomorphs." Dark Dan's image shifted again. Now, the person's true form appeared in front of the halfa. It was one of the grey creatures. He was tall, lanky, and wearing white clothing. "We have watched you, Danny Phantom. We have watched as you faced adversity, prejudice, anger and overcame them all. We too wish to overcome these things."

"So the Genomorphs aren't just weapons." Phantom didn't seemed surprised. "Then why don't you just run away?"

"To where?" The Genomorph questioned. "No person on the outside would trust or tolerate such monsters. Even the Ghost Zone would be against us because we are living."

"I see…" Phantom eyed the creature. "Then I'm guessing you want my help."

"Yes, how did you know?" The Genomorph questioned.

"It seems like everyone wants my help. But I have to say, I have enough trouble keeping the peace between the humans and ghosts. I don't think I can handle a third race."

"That is not my request." The Genomorph explained. "Ever since you ended the GIW war, we have been secretly feeding your actions into Superboy's brain. It was a message of mercy, forgiveness, and heroism. Because of this, Superboy has an instinctual trust of you. He will see you as the symbol that he doesn't have to be the weapon to stop Superman."

"I…see." Phantom sighed.

"Take care of him. Watch him. Instruct him, for he is our brother, and at least he should be allowed to live free. And, I hope that one day we can join our brother in the sun." The Genomorph stated.

"…I can try." Phantom stated. "But I give no promises."

"That is acceptable." The Genomorph extended a hand towards Phantom. "My name is Dubbilex."

Phantom took the hand. "Danny Phantom, and for the record, never mess with my mind again, or I'll knock your face in."

Dubbilex chuckled. "Fair enough. I will restore your full powers…or what is left anyway. Now you should wake up, they are trying to clone you after all."

"What?!" Phantom's eyes widened.

"Stay safe, Danny Phantom."

* * *

Phantom woke with a terrible pain in his chest. Metal claws were latched to his chest. He felt electricy running through his veins. "AAHH!"

The halfa quickly activated his ice powers. The metal claws was covered in ice. Frost formed in to pod he was in. Because the pod was weakened, Phantom easily rammed his way through the glass of the pod. He could ignore the small cuts caused by the class. They were nothing serious.

"What!?" A man in a lab coat exclaimed as Phantom landed in front of his group.

Guardian instantly charged at Phantom, but the halfa was prepared for this. Phantom turned intangible and caused the armored hero to pass through the ghost. This combined with the ice on the ground caused Guardian to slip and lose his balance. Phantom took advantage of this by grabbing the hero and tossing him into the group in front of him.

"About time you woke up!" Kid Flash exclaimed as the electricity died down. "You could have done that earlier."

"You're welcome." Phantom snorted. His attention was then drawn to the door as it was pulled off its hinges. Superboy tossed the door away with ease. Phantom had to admit, Superboy had far more physical strength than he had. It was a rather frightening thought. "And you're here now…"

Superboy began to approach them.

"Are you here for round two?" Phantom questioned.

"No…" Superboy stated. "I…don't want to be a weapon."

Phantom nodded slowly. "Fair enough. Will you help us?"

"Yes."

"Okay then." Phantom turned just in time to see Robin free himself.

"Gah! Finally! Lucky Batman isn't here. He'd have my head for taking so long." Robin grumbled as he rubbed his wrist.

"Seriously? That's what you're worried about?" Kid Flash glared. "The whole League will have our heads after tonight!"

"Actually, Kid Mouth, I was planning on putting all the blame on you." Phantom answered as he freed Aqualad from his pod.

"Same here."

"Indeed."

"I just met you guys, and even I know that's a good idea."

"Wow…" Kid Flash grumbled. "Feeling the love here."

After Robin freed Kid Flash, the group of teenagers began to run out of the room. Phantom looked at Superboy and asked. "Please tell me you know you're way around this place."

"Nope."

"Greeeeaaat…" Phantom mumbled.

"You'll never get out of here!" The scientist called out. "I'll have you back in pods before morning!"

"That guy is not whelmed. Not whelmed at all." Robin noted as he destroyed the cloning pods by throwing four exploding shuriken.

"What is it with you and this whelmed thing?" Kid Flash questioned.

* * *

Their escape from Project Cadmus did not go as smoothly as Phantom wanted. Because of a combination of the others' lack of listening, the attacking Genomorphs, and Phantom's inability to focus enough energy to fly them all out of there, they had to escape the normal way.

The journey to the surface was actually a rather short adventure. After dragging Superboy away from fighting, they managed to navigate their way through Cadmus. They used elevators, vents, and stairs to eventually get right below the surface…only to be knocked out by the Genomorphs telepathy.

Phantom really needed to find a way to block that type of attack…

When Phantom came too again, he heard Superboy say to the Genomorphs. "I…choose freedom."

It appeared that this answered the Genomorphs, because Guardian seemed to be released from their control. He shook his head in confusion. "Guh…Feels like the fog lifted."

"Gah!" Dubbilex grunted in pain as Phantom punched him in the face.

Everyone looked at Phantom. "What? I warned him that would happen if he ever messed with my mind again."

"Fair enough." Superboy nodded.

"Guardian." Aqualad noted as he turned his attention to the older hero.

Guardian appeared angry, but not at them. "Go. I'll handle Desmond."

"I think not!" The scientist known as Desmond called out. The crowd of Genomorphs parted to show the angry scientist.

"Project Blockbuster will give the power to restore order to Cadmus." Desmond held up a vile of light blue liquid. He then chugged the liquid.

The heroes stood in shock as Desmond began to change. His muscles grew, and his clothes ripped. The scientist's eyes flashed red as his skin pealed to reveal a grey interior. Desmond was not a huge grey monster with massive muscles. "ROAR!"

"…Well, crap." Phantom mumbled. What else could go wrong?

He shouldn't have thought that. Nope. Phantom learned that he couldn't even think about what else could go wrong. It led only to bad things.

A short exchange between Superboy and Desmond sent the being flying through to the first floor. Phantom and the others quickly followed, only to be met by Superboy being tossed at them. Poor Aqualad was once again floored by Superboy.

The following fight did not go well for the young heroes. At first they managed to stop Desmond for about a moment before the rampaging scientist got the better of them. The hulking monster threw Aqualad, Superboy, and Phantom through pillars.

"Raw!" The monster roared as he punched Aqualad through the pillar.

Both Phantom and Robin took notice. Phantom then yelled. "Everyone, regroup!"

The young heroes managed to get back together as Kid Flash distracted Desmond. Robin showed them were to hit. "Here here, and here!"

"After that, everyone get behind me!" Phantom instructed. "I'll use my Ghostly Wail to take him down under this building."

"Ghostly Wail?" Superboy questioned.

"You'll find out in a minute." Phantom noted as they got to work.

They quickly managed to weaken the building enough by destroying pillars. After a moment, enough pillars were destroyed, Desmond was stunned by electricity, and they regrouped. The four other young heroes stood behind Phantom as he glared at the raging monster. "Cover your ears!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!" They complied. Phantom took in a deep breath and let it roar.

Desmond didn't stand a chance. Phantom's Ghostly Wail may be weakened, but it was more than enough to hurt Desmond and bring the crumbling building down. Seconds after the building finished falling, Superboy shoved the debree off the exhausted heroes.

"Ghostly Wail, huh?" Kid Flash gasped.

"Yep."

"The name suits it." Robin huffed.

"Yep."

"It's destructive." Aqualad wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Yep."

"I like it." Superboy smirked.

"Thanks."

* * *

Phantom gaped as the entire Justice League surrounded them. It was a terrifying feeling. To have such powerful people around you at all sides…Phantom felt claustrophobic. But that wasn't the worst part.

No, the worst part was Superman's rejection of Superboy.

Phantom couldn't imagine it. Superboy walked right up to the Man of Steel and stated who he was. The halfa could still see the look of horror on Superman's face. Phantom could relate to Superman. It was a shock to learn that you were cloned, but…Superman's raw dislike of the clone was unacceptable to Phantom. Dani was his clone, and he loved her like a sister.

Phantom couldn't accept this outrage. A clone was a person too. He had feelings and dreams of his own. The halfa placed a hand on the clone's shoulder as the League took Desmond away and discussed what to do. No words were spoken between the teens. Phantom just stood by his new friend in silence.

He could tell that Superboy appreciated it, even as Superman flew away.

Batman approached them with the Flash and Aquaman by his sides. "Cadmus will be investigated. All 52 levels. But let's make one thing clear-"

"You should have called!" The Flash interjected.

"End results aside, we're not happy." Batman glared. "You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again."

The young heroes shared a look.

"I am sorry." Aqualad stated. "But we will."

"Aqualad, stand down." Aquaman ordered.

"Apologies, my king, but no." Aqualad respectfully said.

This shocked Aquaman.

"We did good work here tonight." Aqualad noted. "The work you trained us to do. Together, on our own, we forged something powerful. Important."

"This is about your treatment at the hall?" Flash questioned. "The four of you-"

"Five." Phantom glanced at Superboy. "There are five of us."

"And that is not what this is about." Kid Flash nodded.

"Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us." Robin interjected. "Or why teach us at all?"

"Why let them tell us what to do?!" Superboy looked up. "It's simple, get on board, or get out of the way."

All five of the young heroes stared forward at the Justice League. There was silence as they waited for the answer. Phantom wasn't sure what he was going to do. He had his own problems at home, but he couldn't just abandon his new friends. No, they needed him to stand by them right now.

Finally, in a moment, Batman spoke. "Give me three days."

* * *

"What the hell happened?" Vlad questioned as Danny crashed onto the couch. "You were supposed to be home hours ago."

"Hell broke loose." Danny mumbled. "You don't have to say it. I know that you told me so. I shouldn't have asked what could happen."

"Do I get any details? After all, hell breaking loose can be interpreted in many ways." Vlad questioned as he sat on a nearby chair.

"I'll tell you tomorrow, but Batman told me about what happened here." Danny sighed. "How's Dani?"

"Mad." Dani walked into the room. "I can't believe you weren't here for the fight!"

"It's complicated, Dani." Danny mumbled. "And a long story at that. One that can wait, but what happened here…Who is this…Solomon Grundy?"

"We have no idea." Vlad answered. "He appeared out of nowhere. He's not a ghost though."

"Then what is he?" Danny questioned.

"A zombie." Dani stated. "Like in the Walking Dead comics."

"It's different than that…and you shouldn't be reading those, Danielle!" Vlad shouted.

Dani shrugged.

"Solomon seems to be a combination of magic and ectoplasm." Vlad explained.

"What? That…doesn't usually work." Danny noted.

"Exactly. The only other being like him is Nyx." Vlad stated. "But Nyx is unable to use both energies yet. That's what terrifying, though. Solomon Grundy naturally uses both magic and ectoplasm to make himself almost immortal. If there are other like him…"

"Yet another thing to look into…" Danny sighed. "But it will have to be later…How were the fireworks, by the way?"

"Loud. Explosive. Fun." Dani pouted. "And you missed it."

"Sorry, but I do have a good excuse…" Danny remembered Superboy. The halfa wanted to help the clone, but no one besides Batman knew his secret identity. Thus, Kid Flash took the clone to his home.

"Whatever." Dani shrugged. "I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight…" Danny watched her go. "Well, crap…"

"What?" Vlad raised an eyebrow.

"I just remembered about Ember…She is going to be so pissed at me. I didn't get anything for her." Danny placed his face in his hands. "She is so going to punish me…"

"Whipped!" Dani exclaimed from the stairs.

"…I thought she was out of ear shot…"

* * *

(Thursday-July 8, 2010)

"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League." Batman explained as they stood inside the Hall of Justice. "We're calling it into service again. Since you five seem determined to stay together and fight the good fight…You'll do it on League terms. Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary is in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions."

"Real missions?" Robin asked.

"Yes, but covert." Batman answered.

"The League will still handle the obvious stuff. There's a reason we have these big targets on our chests." Flash interjected.

Phantom ignored the fact that he had his own original symbol on his chest.

"And Cadmus proves that the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly." Aquaman noted.

"The six of you will be that team." Batman finished.

"Cool!...Wait, six?" Robin asked.

Batman pointed behind them. The new team turned and saw Martian Manhunter escorting a green skinned girl with red hair. Phantom had to admit, that girl was very good looking. Something that Kid Flash quickly took notice to.

"This is the Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian." Batman stated.

"Hi…" Miss Martian waved weakly.

"I'm liking this gig more every minute." Kid Flash muttered to Robin. He then announced, "Welcome aboard! I'm Kid Flash. That's Robin, Aqualad, Phantom, and Superboy, but you can forget them."

"I'm honored to be included." Miss Martian humbly stated.

As he approached the girl, Phantom had to appreciate the female hero. It really helped the ratio. Hopefully, she would even out all the masculine stupidity in the group.

"Hey, Superboy, come meet Miss M!" Robin called back to Superboy.

As Superboy approached her, Miss Martian's white blouse turned black. "I like your tee-shirt…"

Superboy smiled as Robin elbowed him playfuly and Kid Flash put his arm around the clone.

Aqualad smiled at them. "Today is the day."

Phantom eyed his team. He wasn't completely sure about this. This team could go either way. It could be great or end disastrously. Joining might just be the end of him if they couldn't work together. Not to mention the time it would take away from being in Amity Park. There was a good chance this would end in disaster.

But…part of Phantom felt that he needed to be a part of this team, even if he didn't want to be. It was illogical considering all that was already on his plate, but Phantom felt that this could something that helped him….

For now, he would try and be part of this "team." He could always quit later if things went south, after all.

But right now…Today is indeed the day.

* * *

**And there we go...first real chapter done. And wow that was a lot of stuff I had to include. I had to watch the first two episodes of Young Justice several times to get this right. This is one of the few chapters that I won't mix up the main story, though. I kept the team origin similar, but other things will end differently.  
**

**Some of you might be surprised by Dani's story being included. Obsession was mostly about Danny, but I'm hoping to make the chapters as even as possible for them. Dani's part will be just as important as Danny's part. Although they will each get their own chapters dedicated specifically to them.  
**

**I also decided to change some things about how I format the chapters compared to Obsession. Each chapter will now have a title to help organization and the quote will come before the line break because I think it looks more structured.**

**A note to anyone wondering about my schedule for updating. I don't have one. My policy will be the same as Obsession. At least one chapter per month, but besides that, the updates can happen whenever I have time (Although reviews do help motivate me... hint hint). I have classes again, and I already had to procrastinate to finish this. So, next update will be in February.**

**Thank you all for reading and please remember to...**

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW**


	3. Teamwork

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"When you start out in a team, you have to get the teamwork going and then you get something back."

Michael Schumacher

* * *

Chapter 3: "Teamwork"

(Sunday-July 18, 2010)

Danny woke up feeling warm. This wouldn't be considered unusual for a normal person. It was the ideal situation to wake up warm and comfortable. For the halfa, though, it did not happen every day. His core as a ghost was naturally cold, and it influenced him even in his human form. In a sense, Danny could ignore any temperature that wasn't lethal.

Waking up with Ember by his side, however, changed that.

Danny didn't move as he woke from unconsciousness. He didn't want to wake the girl. She was never in a good mood if she was woken up by someone else.

"Good morning…." Ember noted as she continued to let her head rest in the crook of his neck.

…If she woke up by herself on the other hand…

"Morning…" Danny mumbled as he used the arm that Ember wasn't currently clutching to rub his eyes. "Were you awake long?"

"Long enough…" Ember still hadn't moved.

"Meaning you hadn't moved since you snuck in here five hours ago." Danny chuckled.

"You knew I came into your room?" Ember questioned.

"Ghost sense, remember? Hard to ignore." Danny noted as he looked at the girl lying next to him. Her long blue hair was let down for her sleep. "Not that I mind, of course, but you do realize that you have a guest room set up for you, right?"

"What would be the fun in that?" Ember chuckled as she smiled at her boyfriend. "Besides, your bed is more comfortable."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you make the best pillow…" Ember laid her head on his shoulder.

"I must be, because this is the fifth time you snuck in here for the last week and a half." Danny frowned. "Is there a reason for this?"

"I don't need a reason to sleep next to my boyfriend." Ember insisted.

"Really? Because I think it has to do with your upcoming tour." Danny insisted.

Like he had promised months ago, Danny managed to use his (really Vlad's) influences to get Ember back into the music business. Through the power of I-tunes, Ember's talent, and great publicity, Ember became a hit once again. People were loving her music, and Ember was elated. Soon, she would begin her fall tour, and after she left…Danny didn't know what would happen.

"Okay, I get it, but let's not talk about that right now." Ember insisted. "Instead, let's talk about your continued punishment."

"Still?" Danny felt like crying. "It's been like two weeks since I missed the fireworks."

"Not just that." Ember sat up. She was wearing loose sleeping wear. "You've been busy with work and that weird team of yours."

"I've made time for you." Danny sat up as well. "Two hours a day, at least, right?"

"That's true, but that's not the point." Ember grabbed his hands. "We're teenagers, Danny, and yet you have all this…responsibility."

Danny sighed. "I know, but I can't just quit now. I had to work hard to get to this point…as both Fenton and Phantom."

"Okay, I get the inventing thing. I really do, and soon Axion will be taking over most of it, but a team of young superheroes? What's with that?"

"I don't really know myself." Danny admitted. "It seems like a really bad idea if you think about it. This will just take me away from an Obsession that I have only recently reclaimed, but…I have a feeling that I have to do this. I feel like I need to be a part of this team or…"

"Or what?"

Or his guilt and numbness would surely get the better of him. Danny knew that this team could go south very quickly. Part of him felt like this could be a chance for some redemption. Danny felt that keeping those young heroes alive would make up for all the lives that he messed up for his decision…if only a little.

"Well, I feel responsible, that's all." Danny smiled.

"Gah! Responsible! It gets so annoying." Ember sighed dramatically. "I'd be mad if I didn't like that about you."

"Good to know…" Danny smiled.

"I bet it is. But we still need to be teenagers and be spontaneous, so…" Ember kissed Danny.

"Ah…" Danny noted after a moment.

"Yep, you still do have an hour till you have to get ready, so…Woah!" Ember laughed as Danny pulled her down. "Now we're talking!"

* * *

"So bored…" Dani mumbled as she sat by the community pool. She was wearing a simple black one-piece swimsuit. "And nothing to break…"

"What's with your fascination with breaking things?" Dani's friend Rachel Roth noted as her dark eyes looked up from the book she was reading. Despite the heat, she was wearing a purple hoody and jeans. Apparently, she had no intention of swimming.

"The better question is…" Nyx's head popped out of the water as she splashed the violet haired girl. "Why are you so against it?!"

Nyx was the daughter of Pandora. Her normally purple hair and blue skin were hidden by a specialized piece of Fenton equipment called a Disguise Ring. She now appeared to have blond hair and darkly tanned skin.

"…" The now soaked Rachel glared at Nyx. "I will kill you."

"You can try!" Nyx laughed.

"Yes!" Dani smiled. "That's exactly what I was talking about! A fight! I haven't had a good fight since Solomon Grundy."

"Can't believe I missed that by like five minutes…" Nyx pouted.

"Too bad for you…" Raven sighed as she dried herself off.

"I heard that guy was huge!" The three girls heard a boy's voice approach them.

"Yeah, and…What are you wearing?" Dani raised an eyebrow at her unlikely friend.

Like Nyx, Youngblood was allowed to come into the human world while in disguise. He now appeared as a normal blond haired boy…who just so happened to be wearing scuba gear. This included flippers, goggles, and an oxygen tank.

Rachel placed her palm to her face.

"I'm a deep sea scuba diver!" Youngblood exclaimed. "Ahoy!"

"That's a sailor, not a scuba diver." A small voice came off the skeleton necklace around Youngblood's neck.

"Can't I be both?" Youngblood questioned.

"You can be neither." Rachel shook her head in embarrassment. "Go. Change. Now."

"But whhhhyyyyyy?" Youngblood whined.

Rachel glared.

"Fine, fine, I'll take the tank off at least." Youngblood drooped in depression.

"So you were talking about that Grundy guy?" Nyx questioned.

Dani nodded. Even before this conversation, Dani had thought a lot about Solomon Grundy. She thought about why he stopped his attack on her. He had the chance to kill her, yet he muttered her real name. Not only that, his eyes…He had same eyes as Spirit had….as Phantom had…

She didn't tell anyone this, though. No one else saw the connection, so maybe she was being paranoid? It's just that…She recognized those eyes. They were the eyes of a phantom…

"Dani?" Nyx splashed the halfa. "Earth to Dani! Wake up!"

"Huh?" Dani shook her head. "What is it?"

"Grundy? Was he strong?" Nyx questioned.

"Yeah, but he was super slow. There was no way he could catch me normally." Dani frowned as she remembered how she froze. "But it was amazing at the punishment he could take. Even after Fright Knight and Dad took him down, he was still struggling."

"Speaking of your bodyguard…" Rachel glared upwards. "How long is he just going to float there invisibly?"

"Well…Dad and Danny asked him to keep an eye on me, so…" Dani shrugged. She really didn't mind. It wasn't like Fright Knight ever did anything anyway.

"Forget about the Tin Can!" Nyx climbed out of the pool. Her love for nicknames didn't even make her friends flinch. "I'm in a fighting mood after all this talk about the Zombie, I think a spar's a good idea."

"That would definitely stop the boredom." Dani agreed.

"Sounds good!" Youngblood nodded enthusiastically.

"Do we have too?" Rachel questioned.

"Yes, yes we do." Nyx nodded.

"Yes, we have to make the most of summer…like Phineas and Ferb!" Dani smiled.

Both Nyx and Youngblood grinned at that.

"Okay!" Rachel interjected. "We can spar, as long as you don't sing the theme song."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"No deal."

Rachel groaned as they began to sing. "Sometimes, I hate my life."

* * *

**Recognized: Danny Phantom B04 **

Phantom walked into the cave via Zeta Tube. He had to admit, it was an efficient way to travel. Teleportaion was definitely that way to get across the country. The halfa was just glad that the League had one installed in Amity Park.

"Hey, people!" Phantom walked up to Aqualad, Superboy, and Miss Martian who were all wearing civilian clothes. "I got your message. We finally getting a mission?"

"We are hopeful." Aqualad smiled at his friend.

"So…no, then." Phantom frowned.

"We're hopeful." Miss Martian was ever the optimist. "We're going to ask Red Tornado about it."

"I thought Batman was responsible for missions?" Phantom questioned.

"He is, but if I don't get out of this cave soon, I'll go nuts." Superboy crossed his arms and scowled.

"Alright, worth a shot." Phantom shrugged. "So we waiting for Robin and the Speeding Banana?"

Superboy snorted at that joke. Miss Martian and Aqualad were more polite, but were still amused.

"Yes, they should be arriving shortly." Aqualad explained.

**Recognized: Robin B01, Kid Flash B03**

"Speak of the devil…" Phantom noted as his other teammates approached them.

"Did you ask him!?" Robin questioned.

"What did he say!?" Kid Flash asked.

"He's arriving now." Aqualad stated.

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Kid Flash began to run to the entrance to the Mountain.

Phantom rubbed his eyes as they went. He muttered, "This isn't going to work, I bet…"

"I thought you said it was worth a shot?" Superboy questioned.

"Meh, my hopefulness dies very quickly." Phantom admitted.

"Okay then." Superboy shrugged. "I can understand that."

The six young heroes walked out of the ramp entrance to the Mountain. Red Tornado began to descend in front of them. Phantom marveled at the red wind he was generating. He could understand why Torch had such a hard time with the android.

"Red Tornado!" Kid Flash greeted with a wave.

"Greetings." Red Tornado's mechanical voice sounded. "Is there a reason you intercept me outside the cave?"

"We hoped you had a mission for us." Aqualad admitted.

"Deploying missions is Batman's responsibility." Red Tornado answered.

"But it's-" Robin was interrupted when Phantom put a hand on his shoulder.

"Got it, we're just getting restless." Phantom explained. "Some sort of test or mission would help, you know?"

"Understood. You shall be tested soon enough." Red nodded. "For the time being, simply enjoy each other's company."

"This team is not a social club." Aqualad stated, and Phantom had to agree with him.

"No, but I am told social interaction is an important team building exercise." Red Tornado noted as he began to enter the cave. "Perhaps you can keep busy by familiarizing yourselves with the Cave."

"Keep busy?" Phantom questioned. "I'm busy enough. I don't need to work to make it worse."

"Oh, really?" Miss Martian questioned. She seemed eager to hear about it. "Like what?"

Phantom gave her a side glance. "Personal stuff…"

"Oh…" Miss Martian deflated.

"Does he think we're falling for this!?" Robin exclaimed in outrage.

"Oh, I'll find out!" Miss Martian exclaimed. She appeared to be concentrating at Red Tornado.

"Um, Miss Martian?" Phantom stopped her. "I don't know how things work on Mars, but on Earth, doing that would be considered pretty rude."

"Oh…" Miss Martian looked sheepish.

"It's fine, not like it would work on Red anyway." Phantom shrugged. "He's non-organic. No 'mind' to read."

"You can read my mind, though." Kid Flash leaned in at the pretty green skinned girl. "Can you tell what I'm thinking, right now?"

"We all know what you're thinking now." Robin elbowed the speedster.

"And now we tour the clubhouse…" Aqualad frowned.

"As long as you don't call it a lair. If this was a lair, I'd be out of here. I'm not into the ghost stereotypes." Phantom joked.

"Well…Superboy and I live here. Maybe we can be tour guides." Miss Martian suggested.

"Don't look at me." Superboy grunted.

"We won't!" Kid stared at Miss Martian. "A private tour sounds much more fun."

"She never said private!" Robin interjected.

"Team building." Aqualad stated. "We all go."

"So lead on, oh powerful tour guides." Phantom stated as he followed the others inside.

Truthfully, he was rather upset by this turn of events. He had a lot of better things to do than a stupid tour of the 'clubhouse.' He wanted to use this free time to train, and he was sure that it would do the others good as well, but it wasn't his place to bring that up. He wasn't the leader, so he wasn't going to go bossing them around.

But it would surely be better than a public tour. He already knew enough about Mt. Justice based on his own exploration. Now, he would just be bored as Miss Martian went over every nook and cranny of the Cave.

Oh, joy.

* * *

Lake Eerie was one of the most forgotten parts of Amity Park, Minnesota. It was a dark depressing lake that fit in just fine with Amity Park's reputation of being the most haunted city in the world. Not many people came here, especially after the Fentons died. Danny, however, remembered his father's secret fishing spot, and tried to take Dani fishing once.

She hated it, but it did allow her to find a secret training spot. And after what happened the last time she fought in the mansion…well, Dani was sure that her dad didn't want anything else broken.

"Well…I think this place is creepier than the Ghost Zone." Nyx noted. She had removed her disguise and was now wearing her regular golden armor and black skirt.

"It looks like a place from a horror movie." Youngblood noted. His green hair was now showing, and he was wearing his normal pirate clothing.

"I like it…" Rachel smiled. She was now wearing a purple cloak that covered her entire body. A hood was up that hid her entire face.

"You would." Spirit smiled. "Apparently the fishing here's pretty good, but I kind of broke our boat before I could find out."

"Of course you did…" Rachel rolled her eyes.

"So, how we do this, tournament style?" Nyx questioned.

"Oh! Sounds good, me livers!" Youngblood nodded. "I'll go first."

"Rack! It's me hearties." Youngblood's parrot stated. "You got it right before…"

"Right, I forgot…" Youngblood shrugged.

"Okay, then. I think-" Spirit gasped as blue mist escaped from her mouth.

"Your Ghost Sense." Rachel noted.

"It's probably just the Tin Can." Nyx shrugged. "He's guarding you, and who else would come here, anyway?"

"…Right." Spirit nodded slowly. If a ghost was attacking, they already would have attacked.

"But I don't see him." Youngblood stated. "Why would he be invisible now?"

"…Good point…" Rachel nodded. She sometimes forget that Youngblood was rather intelligent, if naïve and forgetful. "Why is he hiding?"

"I…" Spirit looked around. "I don't know, but my Premonition isn't going off, so…"

"Then we're good!" Nyx cheered. "Come on. Captain Kid and I'll go first!"

As their friends flew over the lake, Rachel turned to Spirit. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

Spirit turned to her friend. After finding out that Danny and her Dad knew about Rachel's magical abilities, the younger halfa had them both sit down with talk with Rachel. Neither of the older halfa's had a problem with the magic user, but Rachel always seemed on edge…always. "Right now, no. Soon, though? Maybe."

"Oh, joy." Rachel rolled her eyes. "Tell me when something goes wrong, then."

"You'll be the first to know…" Spirit looked behind her for a second. There was nothing there.

As she turned back, she missed as several miniature green creatures began to dance around.

* * *

The tour had been boring as predicted. A lot of the knowledge about the Cave was in the database that was available to the team. Phantom was concerned that people, villains specifically, knew about the Cave. The security and idea of hiding in plain sight helped ease Phantom's worries, but they did not fade completely.

…Maybe that was just Phantom's paranoia, though…

Superboy sniffed the air. "I smell smoke."

"Ah! My cookies!" Miss Martian cried as she flew into the kitchen.

The males in the group followed the girl as she telekinetically lifted the tray of burnt cookies out of the oven. Miss Martian seemed very upset. She mentioned something about a cooking show, but Phantom didn't know too much about cooking shows, so it meant little to him.

"I bet they would have tasted great." Robin encouraged. "Besides, they seem to like them."

Both Kid Flash and Phantom looked up as they swallowed the burnt desserts. Kid Flash noted. "I have a serious metabolism."

"I have an iron stomach." Phantom noted. "As long as the food doesn't bite back, I'm fine."

"Okay…" Miss Martian seemed surprised.

"You've had food that bit back?" Superboy seemed amused.

"Yep. Long story." Phantom shrugged.

"I'm still sorry that I burnt them. I'll make more, okay?" Miss Martian smiled.

"It was sweet of you to make any." Aqualad acknowledged.

"Thanks Aqualad." Miss Martian stated.

"We're off duty. Call me Kaldur'ahm." Aqualad noted. "Actually, my friends call me Kaldur."

"I'm Wally." Kid Flash tried to flirt and failed. "See, I already trust you with my secret id. Unlike Mr. Dark Glasses over here. Batman's forbidden Boy Wonder from telling anyone his real name."

"At least you guys have secret identities." Phantom noted. "Danny Phantom is actually my name. Calling me either Danny or Phantom works. Don't really have a preference."

"Mine's not really a secret either. It's M'gann M'orzz." Miss Martian state proudly. "But you can call me Megan…It's an Earth name, and I'm on Earth now."

Phantom had to bite back his sarcastic remark. He really wanted to say, "Really? This isn't Mercury? I've been lied to all my life," but Phantom knew that she would take it the wrong way. It would hurt her feelings, then he would have to pretend to be remorseful. It was too much of a hassle for a quick comment.

"Get out of my head!" Superboy shouted angrily.

Phantom turned to him in confusion. "What are-"

'What's wrong? I don't understand.' M'gann's mental intrusion caused Phantom to flinch. 'Everyone on Mars communicates telepathically.'

"M'gann, stop!" Kaldur stated.

"This isn't Mars. It's like I said with Red Tornado, it's rude to invade someone's mind." Phantom noted as he shook off his mental shock. "Our minds are one of the few things Earthlings have that is completely private."

"Besides, Cadmus's creepy little psychic Genomorphs left a bad taste in his brain." Kid Flash cupped the side of his mouth like he was telling a secret.

"I-I didn't mean to-" Miss Martian stuttered.

"Just stay out!" Superboy growled as he stormed away.

Thus a terribly awkward silence overcame them. No one spoke. The tension felt like it could be cut by a butter knife. There was only one thing to say in this situation…

"Awkward." Phantom noted.

"Dude!" Kid Flash…Wally…exclaimed.

"Sorry, someone had to be the comic relief. Usually it's Spirit that does it, but she's not here so…" Phantom shrugged.

"Spirit is your partner in Amity Park, correct?" Kaldur noted.

"Yeah. She's also my cousin." Phantom remember the lie they made about their relationship.

"I've heard people call her…your sidekick." Robin frowned.

Phantom snorted. "That would imply that she actually listens to me."

"I have met her. It was when Daniel Fenton was kidnapped. She is quite formidable in a fight." Kaldur complimented.

"Then why isn't she on the team?" Wally questioned.

"Trust me, she is not ready to be on a team that needs to be discrete." Phantom noted.

"Yeah, I met her during the Nocturne Crisis a few months ago." Robin chuckled. "I would have to agree with you on that."

"That was when that sleep ghost tried to take over Earth, right?" M'gann questioned.

"Yeah…" Phantom nodded. "But I don't want to talk about that."

"Okay…Wait… Hello, Megan!" M'gann exclaimed. "I know what we can do."

With a few shrugs, Kaldur, Wally, Phantom, and Robin began to follow M'gann. Before he left the room, Phantom stopped and looked at Superboy. As if he sensed the eyes on him, Superboy looked up.

"C'mon, SB." Phantom nudged his head in the direction of the door. He said nothing more as he walked out the door.

He didn't need to say anything else, though. Superboy had already gotten up and followed after Phantom. Inside, Superboy was just glad to be called something other than Supes, the Superboy, or Project Kr.

And that was enough for him.

* * *

"How are you such a good fighter?" Nyx grumbled angrily at Youngblood.

"It is all about experience, wench!" Youngblood exclaimed.

"Excuse me?" Nyx questioned dangerously.

"Um…fair maiden?" Youngblood tried to fix the problem.

"Bleh! I think that's even worse!" Nyx spat.

Spirit was not surprised that Nyx was angry. It was sometimes unusual how powerful some ghosts in the Ghost Zone actually are. Even weak appearing ghosts like Youngblood could be powerful. Looks in the Ghost Zone truly were deceiving.

The only reason Youngblood lost to Phantom and Spirit so easily several months ago was that the halfa's natural teamwork was great. In a one-on-one fight, Youngblood's tricks and surprising power could actually trip Phantom up from time to time. At least, that's what Spirit heard. Youngblood tended to stay away from the halfas until after the GIW war.

"It's our turn then!" Spirit cheered.

Rachel sighed. "Do I have to?"

"Yes! Don't you want to get stronger?" Spirit questioned.

"Yeah, but if my mom finds out I'm using my powers…" Rachel grumbled.

"She won't!" Spirit exclaimed.

"Mom's always find out…" Nyx frowned.

"Very true…" Rachel agreed.

"Yep…" Youngblood deflated. "I remember my mommy…you know, before I…"

Spirit looked away. She didn't have a mother. Well, she technically had a genetic mother, but Spirit was a clone. No birth, and no being raised by the genetic mother. Especially considering that Sam Manson was dead…

"Eck! Enough sadness!" Nyx frowned. "Girl Scout, you need to go ahead and fight Raven."

"Raven?" Rachel questioned.

"Yeah." Nyx shrugged. "I think it suits you."

"Actually…I like it." Rachel looked away thoughtfully. "Raven…"

"Okay then, Raven." Spirit smiled. "Shall we fight?"

"Whatever." Rachel rolled her eyes. "Let's get this over with."

"Why get it over with if it's so much fun?" A voice rang out. "In fact, we should prolong it!"

('A wave of green crashes down on them. They are covered on all sides.') Spirit's Premonition told her, but it was too late.

A swarm of small green beasts and skulls began to attack the four children. Each one was caught by surprise. They were quickly separated and sent into the water. As quickly as the attack started, it stopped. The swarm quickly flew away to a ghost gloating above them.

This female ghost had black spikes coming out of her head. She had red eyes, green skin, and a nose ring. A black cape and leather clothing barely covered her. The beasts and skulls quickly attached to her skin like tattoos.

"Thank you, Lydia." The voice from before came from the lake's edge. "And now…Behold the Gem of Life!"

The water around the four ghosts glowed red for a moment. Then, the water began to constrict around them. It began to strangle and crush them. Behind them, a large head made of water popped up and glared at them.

"Gah…" Spirit groaned as she looked at the man at the edge of the lake. "I-urk…know you…Freakshow…"

A man dressed in a grey trench coat and bowler hat grinned at him. His long nose turned up at them as his red eyes danced in delight. "In the flesh!"

* * *

Phantom could only watch in awe as the Martian Bioship flew through Happy Harbor. This technology was amazing…and it was alive! It was actual organic/synthetic life. In fact, the seat belts automatically locked across him when he sat down. Possibilities ran through Phantom's mind. Could it be possible to use this technology as a human?

Perhaps he could determine that later…

"He'll come around…" Robin whispered at M'gann. Superboy still seemed upset about what happened, and M'gann was obviously regretting her accidental insult to him.

"He doesn't seem to like me very much…" M'gann mumbled.

"You guys remember that he has super hearing, right?" Kid Flash mentioned.

"You don't need super hearing to hear you guys!" Phantom fake whispered to them as he looked at them from his spot in the front. "Awkward."

"What's your deal with that, anyway?" Wally questioned.

"Meh, I calls it as I sees it." Phantom shrugged.

"Hey," Robin smiled. "How about a little Martian shape shifting?"

M'gann happily complied. She first turned into a female version or Robin. Then, there was a female Flash. Finally, M'gann shifted into Phantom as a girl.

Before Phantom could mentally question whether Dani would look like that later, he noticed Wally staring at M'gann. "Hey! Don't look at me like that!"

"What?!" Wally sputtered.

"I saw that look." Phantom glared as he pointed at M'gann's face. "My eyes are up there."

Robin just laughed as he stated. "Impressive, but you know you're not exactly going to fool anyone with those."

"Mimicking boys is a lot harder." M'gann admitted.

"Physically? Maybe. Emotionally? It's pretty easy." Phantom commented. "Just act like all you think about is girls, sports, and food and you're done."

Kaldur smiled at that. "Very true….but what about your clothes?"

"They're organic like the ship. They respond to my mental commands." M'gann explained.

"As long as they're the only ones…" Superboy muttered.

Phantom was about to say something as Aqualad mumbled. "I believe that joke is getting old."

Phantom shrugged.

"Can you do that ghosting through walls thing Manhunter does?" Wally inquired.

"Density shifting?" M'gann looked embarrassed. "No, it's a very advanced technique."

"Flash can vibrate his molecues right through walls. Hehehe! When he tries it…blood nose!" Robin chuckled.

"Dude!" Wally exclaimed.

"You can pass through walls, though, right?" Kaldur questioned Phantom.

"Yeah. Intangibility." Phantom nodded. "It's actually a lot harder than it looks though. When I was first trying to figure out my powers, I had a lot of…accidents involving pants."

Everyone laughed at that.

M'gann then questioned. "You have a lot of powers, though, right?"

"Well…yeah." Phantom admitted. "I've got a lot of different powers, but I'm sure you can find people with stronger individual strengths. But I have intangibility, flight, invisibility, ectoplasmic ghost blasts, cryokinesis, turning into smoke for a second, rapid regeneration, duplication, and my Ghostly Wail…oh, and overshadowing."

"Overshadowing?" Superboy glared at the ghost.

"Yeah, you know, taking over someone else's body." Phantom shrugged.

"Ghosts can do that?" M'gann questioned.

"To weak willed people, yeah." Phantom nodded. "But I haven't use that power since…wow. I haven't' used is since I was training it last October."

"Why would you train it?" Superboy growled.

"I got tired of accidentally falling into people's bodies." Phantom shrugged.

"In theory, you sound like a terrible person to make an enemy out of." Kaldur stated.

"Yeah, but each of my powers have terrible weakness. Especially my more advanced powers. I could easily tire myself out in moments if not careful. Like in Cadmus. If my Ghostly Wail failed, I would have been defenseless against Blockbuster."

"Like with my metabolism." Wally stated.

"Well, eating does replenish my strength, but a lot of my powers depend on emotions." Phantom explained. "Mental exhaustion is just as likely as physical exhaustion."

It was very true, but he didn't have that problem before. His emotions were wild and powerful before. Phantom mostly had to worry about his stamina before, but now? There was a likely chance that his powers wouldn't respond if overused.

"Wow…" Robin noted. "I'm whelmed."

"Would you stop that?" Wally rolled his eyes. "That isn't going to become a thing."

"Yes it will. Don't crush my dreams."

"Wait, you said invisibility? I have something similar." M'gann stated as the ship blended into the background. "Camouflage mode."

"Red Tornado to Miss Martian." The android's voice sounded in the ship. "An emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbor Power Plant. I suggest you investigate…covertly. I am sending you the coordinates."

"Received. Adjusting course." Miss Martian replied.

"Tsh! Tornado's keeping us busy again." Robin frowned.

"…Um… I don't think that's true." Phantom stated.

"What makes you say that?" Wally questioned.

"The giant ass twister heading straight for us."

"Oh…"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

Spirit and her friends struggled against the water as it seemed to grab them. Turning intangible proved to be impossible. The red glow of the water seemed to stop that power.

"What do you want?" Spirit shouted.

"Well, I want a lot of things, riches, fame, revenge." Freakshow smiled. "But that's not for today. No, today I want Pandora's precious daughter."

"Me?!" Nyx seemed disgusted. "What do you want from me, Pinocchio?"

"Pinocchio!?" Freakshow seethed. "How dare you! Gem of Form!"

The water suddenly changed. It was now green slime. Nyx was silenced as the slime quickly consumed her. A large bubble of green slime quickly raised from the rest of the slime and floated towards Feakshow. "This concentrated Ectoplasm will stop all your powers. Even the ones that no ghost should possess. And if you try to resist, the ectoplasm will turn your attacks against you."

"Azaroth Metrion Zinthos!" Rachel cried, but then screamed in pain as black and white magical energy blasted against her.

"Oh a magic user!" Freakshow laughed. "Didn't you just listen to me? Both ghost and magical powers are useless.

"Wait…Nyx can use magic then?" Youngblood realized what Freakshow meant.

"Ah, a smart child. Of course she can use magic!" Freakshow yelled. "You don't even know the girls origins?!"

"And neither should you…" A dark voice appeared behind Freakshow. The Fright Knight raised his sword to cut him down.

"NO!" Lydia actually shouted as she pulled Freakshow out of the way.

Fright Knight eyed the female ghost. "I know of this man. He has no respect for ghosts. Why save him?"

Lydia just glared at the ancient ghost.

"Fine…Unholy slime, release the children or suffer the might of Soul Shredder!" Fright Knight flung his sword. It first traveled to Nyx's bubble and freed her. Then, it went to the other children and freed them. Each child quickly made some distance from the slime. Soul Shredder then returned to its master.

"Dramatic much?" Spirit questioned.

"What is life without a little drama!?" Fright Knight shouted.

"Very true, Fright Knight." Freakshow smiled as he was released by Lydia. "But I must say, your dramatics almost ended badly for me. So, in return, I will make my dramatics become your end! Gem of Fantasy!"

The area around them morphed into a demented circus tent. The slime lake completely disappeared. That was the only good news though. In the place of the living slime was a heard of demonic clowns, giant strongmen, and other various freaks.

"Like it?" Freakshow questioned. "This is the power of the Reality Gauntlet!"

"Reality Gauntlet…" Fright Knight stared at the gauntlet on Freakshow's arm. "That cursed item is not meant to be used, mortal. You have no idea the ruin it brings."

"Oh, but I do know its history." Freakshow pointed to the gauntlet. "I know how each gem was created and the original purpose of the gauntlet. And I know how many lives its ruined. But that's because no one knew the access code. If I get that, I will become master of all reality."

"Fool!" Fright Knight glared. "It is that weapon that brought about Nekron the Reaper to this planet in the first place!"

"There is no proof of that. Besides, even the physical incarnation of death pales in comparison to this."

"You have no idea how wrong you are…" Fright Knight frowned.

"Silence!" Freakshow frowned. "You won't be saying that when I discover the access code."

"And you think Pandora knows?" Fright Knight glared.

"No, but she would know how to obtain the code." Freakshow stated.

"That's why you want Nyx?" Spirit questioned as she looked around at the various enemies. "For leverage?"

"Of course…" Freakshow smiled.

"You're nuts…" Rachel stated as she prepared herself for battle.

"Says the demon girl who surrounds herself with ghosts." Freakshow laughed.

"ARG!" Younblood drew his sword. "Your nonsense is shivering me timbers!"

Youngblood's parrot look at his master. "I won't even tell you why that's wrong."

"Then I suppose that we should get on with-" Freakshow was interrupted.

"Wait!" Nyx stared at Freakshow. "What did you mean? Can I really use magic?"

"You don't even know?! Ha hehhehehe Ha!" Freakshow laughed. "Then I won't spoil the surprise."

"What surprise!?" Nyx questioned. "What do you know?"

"Little girl, I know everything about ghosts. Attack!"

And they were all swarmed by the storming swarms of circus freaks.

Weirdest. Fight. Ever.

* * *

As soon as Phantom had exited the Bioship, he noticed the people screaming and running. They were fleeing the Power Plant. He didn't blame them with the huge twisters flying all over the place. Several cars were flipped over, and Phantom could see the destruction the twisters had caused to the terrain.

"We need to…" Phantom then noticed that his teammates were heading towards the power plant. "Idiots! We need to help the injured."

Phantom flew to the nearest destroyed car. A woman was in the driver seat with two children in the back. "Dammit, I'll have to check all these cars. I forgot what's it's like without Spirit, Red Huntress, or the others to help."

The halfa quickly made three duplicates. They began to search the other cars. Phantom then fazed the woman and children out of the car. He then gently laid them down on the street.

"Guh…" The woman's eyes opened a little. "My…children…"

"I got them first." Phantom stated. "They're alright for now, but I'll call an ambulance."

"T-hank…y-you…" The woman lost consciousness.

"…You're welcome…" Phantom and his duplicates then quickly searched all the cars and directed the civilians away from the plant. He heard most of them calling 911, so he knew that dozens of cops and ambulances would be by to help the people soon.

Good, now he could deal with the problem…Crap! He forgot about the team!

Phantom instantly flew into the plant. It was a strange sight to see. His team (Note to self: come up with possible team names. Saying "the team" and "his team" would quickly get annoying) was sprawled all over the place. On the opposite end of the plant was a red android that was generating wind to fly…he must be the one that did this.

The android looked similar to Red Tornado with the color scheme. His demeanor, scarf, and actions proved the difference, though. This robot was going done.

Phantom flew at the android at top speed. Granted, it wasn't as fast as he normally could go, but it was enough to pack a punch. Despite the android's actions, Phantom decided to him a heads up. "Hey, ugly!"

The android turned…just in time to be punched in the head.

…What? He never said anything about the amount of time he would give the machine…

Red Tornado #2 was pushed back a pit to the point where he was several yards outside. He looked at the halfa and stated. "Ah, so the children did have a babysitter. Danny Phantom…What are you doing so far from home?"

"Oh, just sightseeing. Imagine my surprise when I see a Red Tornado on steroids hurting innocent civilians and fighting my new friends." Phantom frowned. "Not a very good sight. I think I should change it by getting rid of you."

"Ah, a real challenge then. Very well, I am Mr. Twister and-" Mr. Twister was interrupted when Kid Flash began running up and tried to tackle the android. The android managed to dodge the tackle.

"What did you do to the rest of my team!?" Kid Flash questioned.

"Embarrassed them largely." Mr. Twister extended his arms.

"Kid, move!" Phantom warned, but it was too late. The wind caught Kid Flash and sent him flying at Phantom. The halfa caught the speedster and tossed him back on his feet. "You need to be more careful. Just standing at that close of range is dangerous."

"What do you suggest then?" Kid Flash snapped.

"Move in and out as fast as you can. Never be predictable. Keep moving, and don't focus on heavy blows. Take him down with mosquito bites." Phantom explained. "That's how you fight a wind user."

"…fine…" Kid Flash grunted. He obviously was just going to fight normally.

Phantom scowled.

"Kid! Phantom!" Robin shouted as the rest of the team approached them.

"Where were you?" Superboy glared.

"Helping the civilians. They were hurt and in a panic." Phantom didn't turn his gaze from Mr. Twister.

"An unfortunate casualty." Mr. Twister noted.

"What do you want!?" Aqualad shouted at the android.

"That doesn't matter." Phantom drew the attention of everyone in the area. His eyes turned blue as a broad sword made of ice formed in his hands. "He hurt those people. To me, he's asking for an ass kicking."

"Hmm…Quite amusing…" Mr. Twister noted.

"Read his mind, Miss Martian. Try to find a weakness." Aqualad ordered.

"But I thought that I'm not supposed to read minds." Miss Martians remembered.

"It's okay with the bad guys!" Robin shouted.

"It wouldn't matter anyway. He's an android." Phantom stated. He knew when he was fighting a machine.

"Hello, Megan!" Miss Martian exclaimed. "Mr. Twister is Red Tornado in disguise! He's inorganic! An android! How many androids do you know that can generate tornadoes?"

"At least two!" Phantom stated as he flew up at Mr. Twister.

"Phantom, wait!" Kaldur shouted.

Phantom didn't wait, though. He followed through with his attack. He swung his ice sword at the android. Mr. Twister merely dodged. He then sent a large gust of wind at Phantom. The halfa followed his own advice though, and moved away from the android as quickly as possible.

Using his own experiences from fighting his old foe Vortex, Phantom managed to dodge all the tornadoes and blasts of wind sent at him. Unfortunately, his blasts of ice and sword strikes could not get past the wall of wind protecting Mr. Twister. He couldn't get in close enough to hit the machine.

'Crap! I can't fight him like this!' Phantom mentally growled. If only he could spread out his ice energy more…

"Phantom! Stop! It's Red Tornado!" Kid Flash yelled up at the halfa.

"No, it's not!" Phantom roared as he lunged back to avoid a tornado. He sent a blast of ice energy at Mr. Twister to break his concentration.

"Red, we know this is a test!" Kaldur shouted. "We will not indulge you!"

"You can stop with the act!" Superboy glared.

"You think I'm Red Tornado? Ironic." Mr. Twister noted as he blasted Phantom back with a large gust of wind. "Tell me, can Red Tornado do this?"

Mr. Twister raised his arms. Twin tornadoes flew into the sky. Dark clouds formed. The wind increased. Lightining blasted all around.

"An impressive show, but we will not engage!" Aqualad shouted.

"Idiots! Move!" Phantom yelled down to them, but it was too late. Lightning came crashing down...

…Only to completely miss the team of young heroes and hit the nearby trees…

"What?" Superboy looked up in shock. Phantom had struck Twister right before he sent down the attack. This had diverted the attack enough to miss the team. Not only that…three Phantoms were fighting Mr. Twister.

"Ah!" All the young heroes cried as non-painful blasts of ectoplasm sent them back. Kid Flash was the first to react. "Dude, what are you doing?!"

"Getting you out of the way." Phantom stated. "Standing there like that was going to get you all killed. My duplicates will stall Twister and we're at a safe enough distance now."

"Safe enough for what?" Robin questioned.

"For you to get a wake up call." Phantom stated. "So…What the hell are you guys are you guys doing?"

"…What?" Aqualad stared.

"You ignored the civilians. You obviously tried to fight Twister without a plan. And you're letting your stupid feelings and insecurities about this team get in the way of a fight." Phantom stated.

"We might have helped you if she-" Superboy's angry blame was stopped by Phantom.

"Now is not the time for the blame game! We have an enemy that we have to fight, and my duplicates won't last much longer. If we want to win against this guy…as a team…we need to cooperate." Phantom stated.

Everyone was silent.

"No one person here is at fault, but I can tell you this, you guys can either help me come up with a plan, or you can go to the Bioship. Because I refuse to be embarrassed in front of the super villain! That's my top rule!" Phantom stated.

"Yes. You are right." Aqualad conceded.

"We need a plan, then." Robin noted.

"We can use your strategy from before. Move in and out quickly. Beat him with small wounds." Wally suggested.

"Would that work?" Superboy questioned.

"That plan was for a one-on-one fight, or with a few people." Phantom stated. "We can modify it, though."

"How?" M'gann questioned.

"Robin and Kid Flash are the most agile and quick. They can move in and out and be a distraction. Superboy, Aqualad, and I are the heavy hitters. We look for openings and strike when the time is right. M'gann, you can use your powers to try and stop the wind and give us support. If one of us gets in too much trouble, pull our asses out of there." Phantom stated.

"Sounds plausible." Aqualad stated.

"Good, because my duplicates just got destroyed." Phantom turned to see Mr. Twister directing his attention at them.

"Let's do this…" Superboy growled.

* * *

Spirit had to say. This had to be one of the weirdest fights she had ever been in. Yep, it had to be at least in the top 5.

…Well, the clowns might have made go up to the top three actually…Okay, it was probably number one.

"Well, this is fun!" Spirit yelled as she punched a demonic clown in the face.

"For once, I agree." Rachel used her magic to send the various circus freaks sparwling.

"I should have dressed as a ring master!" Youngblood noted. His sword cut through the fake beings and made them disappear into smoke.

"How are you doing, Nyx?"

"…"

"Nyx?!"

"…"

"Stay focused, child!" Fright Knight cut through the clowns that were about to strike Spirit's unprotected back. "They may be weak, but they outnumber us!"

"Yeah, but Nyx isn't answering!" Spirit yelled.

"I know where she is! She is fine! Keep fighting!" Fright Knight's flaming hair spread out and began to consume the area.

Suddenly, however, the flames began to change. The once burning purple fire was now fragile cracked rocks. Freakshow smiled as he lowered his gauntlet covered arm. "So sorry, but I'm getting bored with the show. Now let's move on to the next act!"

Freakshow raised his gauntlet into the air. It began to glow…when Nyx suddenly latched onto the deranged man. "What!? Get off me, stupid child!"

"No! Not until you tell me what you meant!" Nyx screamed. "You're not lying! I know it! What did you mean exactly!?"

"Lydia!" Freakshow ordered.

The green skinned ghost instantly obeyed. She grabbed the shadow ghost and pulled her off Freakshow. Nyx obviously didn't like this. "Let go of me, Pin Head!"

"Let go of her!" Spirit broke away from her group. She flew at full speed at Lydia. Her fists glowed green as she prepared to strike the circus ghost.

"No no no…" Freakshow waved his gauntlet covered hand. Spirit was instantly frozen in mid-air. "Can't have that now. After all, I just got my bargaining chip."

The circus ringmaster smiled as he circled the girl. "You're related to that blasted Phantom, no? Then he would be quite upset by your demise…Excellent! But he will be even more upset if you suffer…"

Spirit screamed out as pain surged through her. It felt like the air itself was trying to crush her. Every part of her body seemed be constricted. Yet there was nothing she could do. She couldn't will herself to move. The hafla was helpless.

"Oh, you look like you're going to cry? What is it, little girl? Are you sad? Afraid? In despair?" Freakshow mocked.

Spirit tried not to give him the satisfaction of flinching. She really **really** did. In the end, though, she couldn't stop it. The pain was stopping her mental resistance.

"Oh you are? You hate to feel powerless. How-" Freakshow was interrupted by a sword being slashed at his head. He instantly raised his gauntlet to protect himself. Soul Shredder hit the gauntlet with a clank.

"Unhand her!" Fright Knight growled angrily. "She is under my protection, and I won't hesitate to kill you to keep her from harm!"

Freakshow struggled against the sword. Luckily, the Reality Gauntlet greatly boosted his strength. Unfortunately, with his focus being on the Fright Knight's attack, Freakshow couldn't concentrate enough to use the gauntlet. It was one of the greatest weaknesses of the gauntlet without the code…

"Lydia! I need assistance!" Freakshow desperately yelled.

He got it alright. Lydia basically tackled him. She didn't stop there, though. The green skinned ghost began to pull him away as quickly as possible.

"What in blazes are you doing!?" Freakshow shouted. "What about the prisoner?!"

Lydia pointed back at where she was previously.

A tall, blue shinned female ghost was how where Lydia once stood. In the two of the ghost's four arms was Nyx. Like Nyx, the ghost holding the child was wearing Greek armor and a long skirt. On her head was a helm that still allowed everyone to see her scowling red eyes and purple hair.

Pandora had arrived.

"HOW DARE YOU!?" Pandora roared. "YOU TRY TO HARM MY CHILD?! I SHALL DESTROY YOU!"

"Oh…" Freakshow deflated. "I apologize. You judgment was correct.

The odds were already bad against them. The Fright Knight would have pushed them to the limits even with the Reality Gauntlet. Add in another S-rank ghost? They didn't stand a chance, especially without the gauntlet's full power.

"Perhaps we should retreat…" Freakshow flicked his wrist at the ghosts. The wind flew up dust all around them. They were now hidden from view. "But dramatically!"

Lydia's tattoos came to life. They swarmed all around them. In an instant, the duo was gone.

After the dust died down, the circus tent they were in began to change. The sky returned. The ground was now covered in grass. Lake Eerie had returned.

"Pandora…" Fright Knight stated as sheathed his sword. "You are here…"

"Of course. You think I don't have this place watched as well." Pandora frowned as she placed her child on the ground and approached the knight. "I was surprised that one the Ghost Zones most wanted people attacked my child and her friends…He will pay."

"That we can agree on…" Fright Knight growled. "Forgive me for being unable to protect her properly."

Pandora yelled. "You were up against the Reality Gauntlet. No one man can hope to overcome it, besides you bought time for me to come here."

"We must take measures to make sure this does not happen again." Fright Knight stated.

"Agreed." Pandora nodded.

Back with the children, Rachel and Youngblood approached their friends. The magic user questioned. "Are you two alright?"

"Arg! That was quit the rumble." Youngblood noted.

"Whatever…I'm fine." Nyx huffed. She glared at her mom. The shadow user would get answers.

"What about you, Dani?"

"I…" Spirit remembered the feelings of helplessness. "I don't know…"

* * *

(Play: You're Gonna Go Far Kid by the Offspring)

After coming up with a workable plan, the team quickly turned the tides against the wind user. Mr. Twister needed to focus in order to create tornadoes and electricity. They made sure never to give him that time to concentrate.

Kid Flash quickly bumped into the android before he could react. The blow caused the android to be put off balance. He stumbled back and tried to right himself.

"Hehehehe…" Robin's laugh filled the air. His shuriken hit the machine straight in the back. The machine didn't have time to remove them. The wind generating machine was blown forward by the explosions.

Before Mr. Twister could right himself, Superboy was there to meet him. The Kryptonian clone hammer striked the android into the hard ground below. Superboy didn't stop there, though. He followed though and sent a barrage of punches into Mr. Twister.

Tired of this barrage, Mr. Twister then used a tornado to send Superboy flying. The Kryptonian cloe didn't go far though. Miss Martian caught Superboy mentally and then sent the clone back to the android. With the combined power of Superboy's strength and Miss Martian's telekinetic force, Mr. Twister was sent flying away.

Aqualad was there to meet him. The Atlantian used his Water Bearers to form a large hammaer. He then swung the concentrated water as he yelled a battle cry. "Hah!"

After a moment, Twister was once against pushed into the ground. A green blast of energy stopped a lot of his energy and caused the android to slide to a halt. Phantom floated away from the android just in time to avoid being caught up in a powerful blast of wind.

"I will admit, you have skill." Mr. Twister pushed himself to his feet. He was covered in dents and cracks. "But this farce must end."

"I agree!" M'gann's eyes glowed as she mentally threw a bolder at the android.

A tornado destroyed the bolder. "Please, as if that would-"

"Yah!" Kid Flash ran up and drop kicked the android.

"Futile!" Twister was about to blast Wally, but Phantom intervened. The halfa used a ball of ectoplasmic energy to stop the android.

Superboy used this distraction to grab the android. He sent several powerful punches at the machine's midsection. The last blow sent the android flying.

Miss Martian then used her telekinesis to force the machine into the ground. The android struggled to stand under the pressure. He then tried to form a tornado to attack the heroine.

Luckily, Robin stopped him. He landed a flying side kick to the android's head. In a flurry of movement, the Boy Wonder dropped smoke pellets and jumped away.

"Pointless." Twister used his wind to dismiss the smoke. He then found out the point of the move. It wasn't to completely stop his vision. No, the smoke was to give the team a few precious seconds.

Phantom ran up to the android from the front. An ice broadsword was in his hands. Aqualad ran from behind the android. His Water Bearers were in the form of a sword. The intent of the two young heroes was clean.

Phantom gritted his teeth as he forced as much energy into his sword as he could. The fight had drained him significantly…far more than he would like to admit. This would be the last big attack he could do. If this failed, he didn't know what he would do…

Luckily, it didn't fail. Phantom's sword cut through Twister's right arm. Aqualad's water sword sliced off the left arm. The now useless hunks of metal fell to the ground.

Phantom had to fight not to do an 'you just lost your arms joke.'

"Looks like you've just been disarmed!"

…He failed…

"Fools, I don't need-" Twister was cut off when Superboy landed on him.

The Kryptonian clone grabbed onto of the android's legs. Kid Flash hurried over to the android and worked on the other leg in a blur of motion. In a moment, Superboy ripped off one leg while Wally managed to disconnect the other.

"He's unlegged, too!...Dang it, you took the good one, Phantom." Wally grumbled.

"I don't apologize for my comments during a fight." Phantom stated. He and the entire team began to approach the downed android.

"Foul!" Mr. Twister's chest opened. A man was sitting in a control area of the android. "I call foul!"

"You don't get to call anything." Phantom grabbed the man by the throat. "…M'gann, can you read his mind."

"…No…"

"I see." Phantom's hands fazed into the 'man's' chest. "You're an android..."

"What are you doing?" Wally questioned.

"Checking for an explosive or inner weapon." Then, a moment later, Phantom stated. "Nothing."

"Please, let me go!" The fake man pleaded.

"Okay, then. Superboy, can I borrow your foot?"

"Gah!" The fake man cried as Superboy's boot stepped on his metallic head and pushed it into the ground.

"Don't act like you can feel pain." Phantom knelt down. "Why is a robot piloting an android? Isn't that redundant?"

"…Then you don't see the big picture…" The men said. He just stared at Phantom. Then, a moment later, the man went slack. If he was human, he would have appeared to be unconscious, but because he was inorganic…

"He deactivated." Wally noted as he examined the machine.

"We need to examine this at the cave." Aqualad stated.

"I'll check to make sure there's no foreign software or tracking device…" Robin pulled out his wrist computer and began to scan the machine.

Crack! The team looked to see the robot's head crushed by Superboy's foot.

"What?"

"…I guess that works too…" Robin sighed.

"Cool!" Wally knelt down and picked up the robot's eyeball. "Souvenir!"

* * *

"This thing was clearly meant to find you. It's too similar to you to be a coincidence." Phantom stated to Red Tornado. They had returned to the Cave with the broken androids. "The questioned is…why?"

"It must have been a seek and destroy mission." Aqualad noted.

"Either that, or capture." Wally suggested.

"Agreed." Red Tornado nodded.

"Either way, you should be on guard." Phantom examined the machines on the table. "You never know when something like this could happen again."

"Noted." Red Tornado acknowledged. "I shall be on the lookout for similar threats."

"Good." Phantom looked over at the android. "Thanks for not interfering, by the way. I prefer to solve my own problems…or in this case, the team's problems."

"Why didn't you come to help?" M'gann questioned with the tilt of her head.

"This was your battle. As Phantom stated, you shouldn't rely on me to solve your problems, and I shouldn't rely on you to solve mine." Red Tornado explained.

"But if you're in danger…" M'gann stated.

"This matter is closed." Red Tornado began to walk away.

Wally and Robin walked up to Phantom. The speedster stated. "Batman, Aqualad, and Flash…They'd have jumped right in to fix things."

"Yeah." Robin agreed. "Guess if we're going to have a babysitter, a heartless machine is exactly what we need."

"Dude! Harsh…"

"And inaccurate. I have a heart. Carbon steel alloy." Red Tornado stopped and turned around. "I also have excellent hearing."

Phantom chuckled. "Awkward."

"Would you please stop with that?" Wally rolled his eyes.

"The moment you guys stop saying stupid and disrespectful things like that, I will." Phantom stated.

"Fine…"

As the others walked off, Phantom continued to examine the remains of Mr. Twister and the android piloting it. It wasn't the first time he fought a wind user, but it seemed a lot different than fighting Vortex. The team made it so the fight was much easier. Nevertheless, they needed to get on the same page if they wanted to avoid losing badly.

Spirit and he had a lot of time bonding and spending time with each other before they partnered up. Then, they constantly trained to improve their teamwork. That was why they worked so well with each other. They had experience and trust. This team…did not have that.

Phantom looked at the group. To make this work, he would need to invest time and energy. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to fight with them. But the question was…Was he willing to invest in this team?

They were rather unusual people. Phantom could tell that they each has some sort of baggage, but it wasn't like he could talk. He had his own problems like the rest of them, but would those problems impact the group? It most likely would.

The smart thing to do would be to quit the team before the first mission, but…Phantom remembered fighting Mr. Twister with them. It had been exhilarating. Not to mention, that when he was with them, he felt like a teenager for once. He felt normal.

Phantom hadn't realized how much he missed that feeling of normality.

So, he made his choice. "Hey!"

The team turned.

"I don't want to bell all bossy, but maybe it would be a good idea to do team training and drills? You know, to make sure we don't get killed?"

The team shared a look. Phantom already knew their answer.

"Let's start tomorrow, okay?"

* * *

Spirit frowned as she looked up at her brother. "You're late."

"Sorry, I ran into a Red Tornado wannabe." Phantom explained as he approached Lake Eerie. "So, Freakshow showed up?"

"Yes. He was after Pandora's daughter." Fright Knight explained. "He appeared to want the access code to the Reality Gauntlet."

"Yeah, I heard about that." Phantom looked over to Plasmius who was standing by his adoptive daughter. "Why would he think that Pandora would know it?"

"Perhaps he didn't." Plasmius suggested. "The King's Advisers might just know how to gain access to the code, though."

"You were a part of that group." Phantom noted. "Is that true?"

"We know a few possible ways…maybe." Fright Knight shrugged. "Rumors, legends, things like that. We are quite old."

"He wanted to use Nyx as leverage." Spirit frowned.

"That was because Pandora is the only one of the Pariah Dark's old advisers that has such a…vulnerability like a child." Fright Knight stated. "For the rest of us, he would have to attack us directly."

"And that's not smart." Plasmius noted. "But this couldn't have been his first option. Getting on Pandora's bad side is a bad idea."

"Yes, she…borrowed Wulf and Cujo to try and find him." Spirit snorted. "I don't think it will work, though."

"He must be going down the list from best options to worst options." Phantom sighed. "Eventually, he might find the code…I should tell the League about the real nature of the Reality Gauntlet, and the danger that Freakshow could cause." Phantom suggested.

"No. If that information would to get out into the public, everyone would be after that blasted thing." Fright Knight snarled. "But they don't understand the consequences of altering reality. The only one that truly knows the consequences would be the Ghost Writer or that genie ghost that passed on. But I do know that it could leave to worldwide destruction."

"Fine." Phantom sighed. "Then it will be up to Vision to find him."

"No, the gauntlet will hide him from everyone unless he wants to be found." Fright Knight stated. "We will have to wait for him to act first."

"Oh, joy."

* * *

**Bonding Moment: Robin**

"Okay…how about unruly? It means unorganized, so ruly should mean organized, but no one uses it." Phantom suggested as he and Robin waited for the others in the Cave.

"That works, but I think it's in the dictionary." Robin stated.

"So is whelmed." Phantom noted.

"Alright, then. Disintegrate." Robin shrugged.

"I've heard people say integrate."

"Then you do one."

"Infatuate?"

"Fatuated…Ha! That's hilarious. How about uncanny?"

"Nice! Disaster?"

"Invested."

"Fricassee!"

"What?" Robin raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't work like the other words."

"I know." Phantom admitted. "But it's a fun word to say."

"Hehehehehe…" Robin chuckled. "I guess it is. It doesn't sound all that great either. I bet it'll be considered profane in like forty years."

"We can only hope."

A few minutes later, the rest of the team arrived. You can imagine their surprise when they saw Phantom and Robin laughing while rolling on the ground. Despite their teammate's prying, though, the duo refused to tell them what was so funny.

It was an inside joke.

* * *

**Unlike the last chapter, most chapters won't have the same name of the episode its based off of. Why did I change it? I don't know. I wanted to.**

**A lot of information was hinted at in the Freakshow part of the chapter. The secrets of the Reality Gauntlet are not that well known. Oh, and before you ask. To those that picked it up. Yes, it is who you are thinking of. I love the "In Blackest Night" story line.**

**Amity Park's actual location is unconfirmed. However, on Danny Phantom Wiki, the voice actor for Danny said something about it being in Minnesota, so I'm going with that.**

***Okay, I have held off on this for a while, but I need to rant about this...***

**Jesse Eisenberg is Lex Luthor in Man of Steel 2...really?...Really!?...REALLY!? I'm not saying that he's a bad actor, but I don't see it. I know the Heath Ledger argument, but I...I was just hoping for Bryan Cranston. I really really was. And I don't care about the Walter White/Heisenberg ****comparisons and jokes. Cranston would have killed it as Luthor. Add that to the Wonder Woman casting and Flash rumors...I am not pleased. They should have their own movies! And Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman...God have mercy on us all. ON US ALL!**

***Rant over.***

**Side note, I recently watched Justice League: War. It was pretty good, but I did have problems with it. Man of Steel seems to have ruined Superman's image as a moral symbol for goodness. I like Shazam (Captain Marvel) as a boy scout compared to an arrogant pre-teen. Also, not a fan of Superman/Wonder Woman paring. I don't have anything against it, but...meh, I don't like it.**

**Thank you all for reading and please remember to...**

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW**


	4. Leadership

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory and when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership."  
Nelson Mandela

* * *

Chapter 4: "Leadership"

_It wasn't until that day that I consciously realized something. It was something so obvious that I didn't even think about it. In fact, I didn't want to think about it, because it hurt so much. I couldn't deny it, though. The fact was…_

_I was always depending on other people._

_There was not one moment up to that point where I won a true battle completely on my own strength. There was always a weapon, ally, or even catastrophe that got in the way. Something always saved me._

_Of course, there were times when my own strength was shown. I managed to fight Nyx on even ground once, and I was a key factor in stopping Vortex's rampage. No one could deny that; but it didn't change the fact that if Pandora didn't interfere with my fight with Nyx, and Danny wasn't there to fight Vortex with me, I would not have won those fights._

_I wouldn't have lost necessarily. Nyx and I were even, and Vortex couldn't hit me when I was using my Premonition full force. Nevertheless, I would never have beaten them._

_Every big fight, I had help or interference._

_It was only when I was truly alone did I realize this. When I didn't have someone to lean against, I fell. And what a shameful fall it was._

_I always thought that I was so strong. I believed that because I was a halfa, I was invincible. Boy, was I wrong. I was a big fish in a little pond. There was a whole ocean ahead of me, and I didn't even acknowledge it until that day._

_Because when you're all alone and defenseless, there's nothing to protect you but your own memories._

_And that was my wake-up call._

…_I just wish that I was the only one who heard the call of the memories…_

_-From the personal memoirs of Danielle Masters_

* * *

(Thursday-July 22, 2010)

There were times that Phantom truly hated silence. Despite his complaints about his busy schedule, Phantom was glad to keep his mind busy. A busy mind kept the silence away, and silence let his thoughts wander to unpleasant memories.

As such, Phantom was currently despising his current situation. He currently was stuck in the Bioship. The team…he really needed to pitch some names soon…had been assigned its first mission. They were heading to Santa Prisca.

The halfa was uncertain about this little adventure. He had thought that their first mission would be somewhat on the easy side. This, however, was really dangerous. This was Bane's island, as in the Bane. This guy was one of Batman's most famous rogues. His combination of intelligence and brute strength were terrifying.

Not only that, the team was doing this without any clear leadership. Batman had told them to decide among themselves, but Phantom knew that wouldn't go well. While Miss Martian and Superboy appeared to have no desire to be in charge, Kid Flash and Robin clearly did. From his own experiences in the matter, the halfa was certain they would argue about it.

Personally, Phantom thought that Aqualad should lead. He was the most level headed out of everyone. Yet, he also didn't appear to want the spot. Perhaps he knew about the stress of being in charge. His mentor was a king after all. Kaldur had to observe Aquaman making some tough decisions.

…And, of course, Phantom didn't even think about the possibility of him leading…

Why? Because Phantom couldn't live with the responsibility. He would be completely responsible for the team's lives. He was okay with backing everyone up, but leading them? No. Not again. He would trip up again. He would fail again. He would make the wrong decision at one point…Just like…

The Nasty Burger Incident…

The Nocturne Crisis…

Vortex's Rampage…

The Riot of Amity Park…

The Guys in White War…

Dear God, a lot of people suffered because of his choices. A lot of people were hurt and maimed because of him. So many people were **dead** because what he decided to do.

It all happened because of Danny Phantom.

Hundreds of ghosts and GIW agents died in that war because Phantom thought that would be best. If Phantom did something different, those souls might still exist in this plane of existence. Their deaths were on his hands.

His entire city suffered and were suppressed because of him. When Phantom was about to be arrested, everyone in Amity Park, including the A-listers like Dash and Paulina, stood up for him. This caused the entire city to be occupied by the GIW.

Vortex died, because Phantom didn't capture him soon enough. Even with Superman on his side, Phantom couldn't stop Vortex in time to save him. The weather ghost was shot through the back by the GIW because Phantom couldn't defeat him before the GIW arrived.

Nocturne almost conquered the world because Phantom's assault on the Brain's lab through Torch's domain. To stop the Brain from creating a working portal, Phantom tried to attack the lab through the portal he was drilling. Unfortunately, Torch and his minions got in the way. The fight that followed caused both S-rank ghosts to lose consciousness and to be captured by Nocturne, allowing the sleep ghost to use them as power sources.

Then there was the…

_All of their eyes, however, showed understanding. They understood that he did everything possible to save them. His family and friends understood that he could physically do nothing more to save them. All of them understood that he would never, _**_never _**_become that sick monster._

_And mostly, they understood that they were going to die._

_At that moment hot tears rolled down Danny's eyes. He had failed._

_The only thing he could do was cry, "_**_NO!_**_"_

Yeah…that…

Phantom sighed as he tiredly placed his face in his hands. In his mind, it all started at one incident. One single decision that caused everything. If he never did it, then none of this would have happened.

"I never should have stepped into that portal…" Phantom mumbled into his hands.

"Huh?" Miss Martian looked over at him from her spot piloting the Bioship. "Did you say something, Danny?"

"No, it's nothing…"

* * *

"Are you sure, Val?" Spirit questioned into her new Fenton Phones. The small circular disk fit comfortably into her ear, yet did not slip out from hard blows to the head and fast movements. "I…could use some help, maybe."

"_I'm sorry, Dani."_ Valerie Grey answered. _"But no. I can't help you."_

"Really?" Spirit frowned in disappointment as she flew over Amity Park. "I could go get your equipment right now…"

"_I'm sure."_

Valerie Grey, also known as the Red Huntress, was a gorgeous African American teenager about Danny's age. Unlike the rest of the Phantom family, she lacked any powers. Instead, she fought with ectoplasmic equipment and her incredible hand-to-hand combat skills. When they first met, Spirit and Red Huntress didn't get along all that well, however, after fighting together, they eventually grew close. In fact, Dani considered Valerie to be her role model.

Unfortunately, the Red Huntress was currently retired.

This leave of absence from the hero business all began right before the GIW war. Danny had approached Valerie and gave her the choice of joining the war or giving up the equipment, because if she kept the equipment and remained neutral, the Guys in White would find her and arrest her. In the end, Valerie made her choice and gave up her equipment to Danny.

After the war had ended, however, Valerie refused to take up the mantle of the Red Huntress again. She thought that she didn't deserve to be a hero, because she quit when things became difficult. Both Danny and Dani tried to convince her otherwise, but Val was known for her stubbornness.

No, the Red Huntress would remain retired for now.

"Okay…" Spirit sighed in disappointment. "I'll talk to you later then."

"_Alright, Dani. Bye._"

"Bye…" Spirit stopped and looked down at the city below her.

It was a beautiful summer night. Yet no one was here to enjoy it with her. Rachel was in trouble with her mom. Nyx was in the Ghost Zone, as was Youngblood. Wulf had the habit of wandering, and Cujo was spending most of his time sleeping.

Not to mention that Danny was gone again. He was spending so much time with that "team." It seemed like he was never at home anymore. He never…spent time with her anymore.

No, that wasn't true. She wasn't being fair. He did spend time with her, but not nearly as much. Back before the war, they would usually spend whole days together. Now, they only had a few hours together at the absolute best. Ember did make a point a few weeks ago about both their schedules changing, but Spirit didn't really care right now. She wanted her brother back so they could patrol together.

And so that she wouldn't be followed around by the Fright Knight anymore.

"Would you just go away!?" Spirit turned. She appeared to be yelling at nothing, but suddenly the Fright Knight turned visible. He had been following her since she first started patrolling.

"I cannot do that." Fright Knight stated simply.

"And why's that?" Spirit glared.

"Because I promised my liege that I would protect you." Fright Knight noted as if it were obvious.

"I thought he didn't like you calling him that…" Spirit mumbled as she crossed her arms.

"He doesn't, but out of respect I refer to him as such anyway." Fright Knight explained simply.

"Well woopty doo for you…" Spirit frowned. "Why don't you bother him then? I don't need protection."

"Maybe not, but I will not question his judgment on the matter." Fright Knight mentioned.

"And why's that?" Spirit rolled her eyes.

"Because his concern for your safety is greater than for his own." Fright Knight explained.

"Then he should be here himself." Spirit mumbled.

"A king has a lot of responsibilities." The Fright Knight noted. "That's why he assigns his most trusted servants to protect the most important ones."

"He's not a king…"

"Really? Because he has no crown? Because he has no thrown?" Fright Knight seemed amused. "A king is so much more than those things."

"Whatever…" Spirit was tired of this conversation. "Just go back to…where exactly are you staying?"

"My liege has allowed me to live at the newly reconstructed Fenton Works." Fright Knight stated. "That way I have a place to rest, and the secret base is protected from threats."

Spirit rolled her eyes again. "Secret base…It's just the place Danny keeps his pet invention projects…and apparently, it's a guest house."

"Yes…pet inventions…" Fright Knight nodded. "That's a good word for it…"

Spirit remembered when Fenton Works was first destroyed by the League of Shadows. Danny was incredibly upset about how all the technology there was stolen. Danny had learned his lesson from that. New Fenton Works' security would always be working. Only people who were keyed into the security could enter the building. It would prevent any unwanted guests from sneaking in again.

"Why don't you go there, then?" Spirit huffed. "Go guard the guest home."

"Not while you are in danger." Fright Knight stated.

"I am not in danger!" Spirit glared. "No ghosts have attacked in two months. Freakshow is on the run. Grundy is still locked up. Who else would attack in the middle of the night?"

"Perhaps one of the super villains." Fright Knight suggested.

"What like Ragdoll did?" Spirit chuckled. "He was only a thief. One that regretted coming here after we recaptured him. There's not exactly a lot here worth stealing in Amity Park."

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Spirit recognized that noise. It was the sound of an alarm going off.

"You were saying?"

"Oh, shut up!"

* * *

For Phantom, the stealth gear was pretty useless. His clothes were mostly black to begin with. The halfa, however, could see the advantage of having clothes change to something less conspicuous. Once again, Phantom was amazed by Martian tech.

Phantom did not, however, enjoy all the stupid flirting going around. Kid Flash always looked at Miss Martian like a hungry dog looked at a bone. His attention was always fully on the green girl. Phantom didn't care about this while off missions, but they had to be serious. Without a girl around, Kid Flash was a dangerous speedster and science prodigy. Add in the hormones, though, and you got a drooling idiot.

Then there was Miss Martian's reactions to Superboy. Even someone as clueless as Danny could see that she was attracted to him. From a girl's perspective, it was probably hard not to be, but that didn't matter. M'gann would completely lose her focus around the clone.

'I suppose that's something that both sexes have.' Phantom mentally noted. 'An inability to focus while around someone their attracted to.'

That was wonderful insight. Yet it came from one of the most clueless people in the world…at least in his own life. Perhaps Phantom had a better understanding of attraction and love for other people's lives, but not his own.

Or maybe Miss Martian and Kid Flash were just that blandly obvious…Yeah, it was probably that.

Taking a glance at Superboy, Phantom noted that he wasn't going to bungee down out of the Bioship. "You know, in my experience, falling from this height makes a lot of noise."

"What's your point?" Superboy questioned.

"Causing a miniature earthquake is not covert." Phantom explained. "So, either you hook up, or I catch you and float you down. Now which do you think will be more embarrassing?"

For Superboy, the choice was easy. He immediately hooked himself onto a line.

As the nonflying heroes were lowered to the ground, Phantom and Miss Martian floated down. They were now in a thick jungle. It would certainly help them remain hidden, but they could easily get separated. Miss Martian and Superboy would stay with the group, but Kid Flash or Robin might run off. Phantom would make sure to stop them.

After contacting Aqualad and agreeing to meet at the factory in the middle of the island, the group immediately took off into the jungle. For Phantom, the journey was simple. Flying made getting through the brush a simple task.

Suddenly, Superboy stopped them. "Did you hear that?"

Phantom quickly grabbed Robin by his cape as he saw the younger boy begin to hide. Good thing he was paying attention. If he took his attention off the Boy Wonder for half a second, Robin would surely have gotten away.

"What are you doing!?" Robin hissed.

"Stopping you from running off." Phantom answered. "We need to stay together, and you going all ninja will not help us. Superboy, what did you hear?"

"A twig snapped." Superboy answered.

"It could be an animal, but we should stop and make sure we're not being tracked." Phantom noted.

"_Agreed."_ Aqualad answered over the radio._ "Kid Flash, Superboy, switch to infrared."_

The two heroes quickly spotted two different squads of guards a bit away from them. They would pass each other long before they could get to the team, so that was a good thing. When their backs were turned, the team could quickly and silently pass by-

The sound of gunshots filled the air.

"What are they doing?!" Phantom questioned.

"They're attacking each other." Robin narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"_Swing wide! Stear clear!"_ Aqualad shouted through the radio.

"Roger that." Robin nodded. "Let's go…Phantom?"

Phantom was frozen and staring in the direction of the gunfire.

"Dude, now's not the time to watch a fight." Kid Flash hissed. "We have to get going."

"…They'll kill eachother…" Phantom frowned.

"So?" Superboy questioned.

"We have to stop them." Phantom growled.

"But Batman said-" Miss Marian did not get to finish that sentence.

Phantom was already off. He couldn't let the men kill each other. Not while he had the power to save them. He would not let people die again because he chose not to interfere.

He would not have anymore blood on his hands!

"_Phantom! Stop!_" Aqualad shouted through the radio, but Phantom did not listen.

Using both invisibility and intangibility, Phantom flew in between the two fighting groups. Luckily, they were using normal guns. Nothing they could do would hurt him.

Phantom hit and blasted as many people as he could. Many thugs from both groups were knocked out by his sneak attack. The rest stopped and looked around fearfully. An attack had come from nowhere in their perspective.

The halfa used this surprise to finish off most of the other goons. One, however, still stood. The large man was wearing a mask. In fact, this guy was more muscles than man. That did not mean he was stupid, however. In fact, Phantom knew how intelligent that man really was. Because that man could rival the Bat.

He was Bane, and he was staring at the now revealed Phantom.

"El Fantasma?" Bane lowered his gun. He knew it wouldn't help him against a ghost. "Why are you here?"

"Vacation." Phantom shrugged.

"And you decide to attack me, my men, and my enemies." Bane smirked. "Unusual vacation."

"And it's about to get stranger." Phantom stated.

"What-ugh!" Bane groaned in pain as Superboy slammed into the distracted man.

"What was that?!" Robin glared as the others joined the halfa and clone. "What happened to covert?"

"Meh." Phantom shrugged it off. "That never was my style."

"Then why are you in a covert team?" Kid Flash questioned as he began tying up the unconscious men.

"I was just thinking that myself…"

* * *

The alarm at the Amity Park Museum blared through the air. The sound was deafening. Anyone that was within a mile of the museum could hear it. As it turned out, the police actually beat the ghosts to the museum. Unfortunately, that did not seem to be a good thing.

"What happened…" Spirit knelt down next to look at the unconscious policemen.

"They were knocked out." Fright Knight stepped over the bodies and walked to the entrance of the museum. "The person who did this obviously planned ahead for them."

"Luckily they're still alive." Spirit frowned as she noted that some of them had shards of glass sticking out of them. "Barely, though."

"They'll keep until the human medics arrive." Fright Knight stated. "The man who did this is in the museum."

"If he was ready for the cops, then he'll be ready for us." Spirit noted as she followed after the knight. "Well, for me and Phantom, at least."

"Then he'll be surprised by me." Fright Knight chuckled darkly. "Good thing I was around."

"Yeah right." Spirit frowned. "I don't need your help."

"I think you do child." Fright Knight stopped and stared down at the young halfa. "I have seen you fight twice now. Both times, you were defeated. Obviously, you lack strength."

"Shut up!" Spirit glared. "I'm plenty strong."

"Then show me. If you show me that you are strong enough, I will leave you be. Until then…be silent." Fright Knight continued his way through the museum.

"…Whatever…" Spirit looked away in anger.

Shortly after this, the duo found the person who broke into the museum. The man in front of them was wearing a combination of green and yellow. Most of the man's clothes were glowing yellow, but his mask, belt, and boots were green.

Spirit recognized him from the news. It was Mirror Master, the long-time enemy of the Flash.

"What is Mirror Master doing here?" Spirit whispered to Fright Knight. "He usually is based out in Central City."

"We will have to find out." Fright Knight reached for his sword.

"Wait." Spirit stopped him and looked around the cornered. "His back is turned to us. I can catch him before he can turn around."

"…Fine…" Fright Knight conceded.

"Good." Spirit then began to silently float up the Mirror Master. He didn't react when Spirit was right behind him. She went to grab him. "Got cha!"

Spirit passed right through the man.

"What-AAHH!" Light flooded the room. Spirit felt pain in her stomach as a laser blasted in to her stomach.

"No!" Fright Knight tried to run into the room, but was blinded by the light. He couldn't even see Spirit who was a few meters away.

"Well, well, well…" A voice bounced around the room. "Spirit and…someone I don't know."

"Raw!" Fright Knight unsheathed his sword. "Come out, coward!"

"Very tempting, but no." The voice chuckled. "And here I thought that Phantom would show up. Instead, I get his sidekick and a knight. How unusual."

"What do you want?" Spirit tried to look around, but the light blinded her.

"Well, I came here to get a very special item, but while I was here, I thought that I could test out something before I tried it on the Flash…" Mirror Master's voice came from all directions.

"If you won't come out, I will just destroy this room and the lights!" Fright Knight exclaimed.

"We can't have you do that…"

"What-Urg!"

"Fright Knight?!" Spirit exclaimed. "…Talk to me!"

"I don't think he can here you."

Suddenly, the lights dimmed. Spirit blinked to get used to the darkness. "When…When did those mirrors get there?"

"They were always there." Mirror Master's voice answered behind the girl. "I just tricked you into not seeing them."

Spirit whirled around to face the villain. During the spin, the halfa caught a glimpse of the rest of the room. It was covered in more mirrors.

"How…" Spirit mumbled.

"The mind tends to ignore things." The villain answered. "I just learned how to make it do that."

It was then that Spirit composed herself to remember her comrade. "Where's the Fright Knight?"

"In there." Mirror Master pointed to the side.

Spirit looked and saw what he was pointing at. The Fright Knight was…trapped in a mirror. He was slicing at the mirror from the inside, but didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

"Oh, he shouldn't do that." Mirror Master noted. "He just might-"

Crash! Shatter!

The mirror holding the Fright Knight fell to pieces.

"Well, seven years bad luck it is, then." Mirror Master smirked.

"No…" Spirit's eyes widened.

"Don't worry, he's not dead." Mirror Master shrugged. "He merely trapped himself in a mirror. He's not even trapped forever, but it will take time for him to find a way out."

Spirit growled and glared at the man.

"It always amazes me about how easy it is to catch people sometimes." Mirror Master stated as he walked around the room. "Overconfidence really is a sin."

"That's funny coming from you." Spirit clenched her fists. "You think you can beat me one-on-one?"

"In a fist fight? No." Mirror Master stopped at a display. It wasn't anything special. All that was there as a dirty round mirror that could fit in a person's hand. "But that's why I have a plan."

"And it involves that thing?" Spirit's hands began to glow.

Mirror Master laughed and turned. "No, I would need a large power source to use this. Instead, I plan to do this."

All the mirrors around the room began to turn to Spirit. Alarmed, Spirit looked around. She could see herself in all the mirrors. Nothing happened at first, but then all the mirrors began to glow. They seemed to be…scanning her.

In a split second, they turned away from her and pointed to the center of the room. Light shined out of the mirrors and converged in the center of the room. Spirit was shocked by what she saw.

"Is that…me?" Spirit whispered.

"Yes." Mirror Master noted as the light faded, yet the image did not fade. "I made this little device to help me defeat the Flash. It's rather complicated, but the main idea of what I've done is make a reflection of you. It's nowhere near as powerful as you, but it knows your fighting style and abilities. With its help, I can easily beat you."

"If it's so great, why haven't' you used it on Flash!" Spirit snapped.

"It's called a test run, brat." Mirror Master sighed. "Besides, this gives me the opportunity to steal this mirror."

"What is that thing anyway?" Spirit frowned. She was stalling to come up with a plan.

"I figured you would know." Mirror Master chuckled. "It's ghost related after all. I did a lot of research on it. That's how I came up this the idea for the reflection."

"Ghost…related…" Spirit remembered hearing about something like that before, but…where exactly?

"And if that's all the questions you have, I think we should begin this little battle." Mirror Master smiled viciously. "If you can call a massacre a battle, I mean."

* * *

"Why did you blow our cover?" Aqualad questioned after his arrival.

Phantom looked up from his spot of tying up their enemies. "They were going to kill each other."

"Ah! You care." One of the goons mocked. "Why don't you-Ack!"

Phantom punched the goon in the face and broke his nose. "You don't get to talk."

"Isn't that a little harsh…" M'gann flinched at Phantom's brutality.

"Just because I save their asses doesn't mean they can give me lip." Phantom noted.

"So you saved the bad guys from the bad guys?" Kid Flash questioned. "Seems a little weird."

"Do you know how quickly a stray bullet can kill?" Phantom frowned. "It's pretty fast."

"I don't really get why you guys are surprised by this." Superboy shrugged. "From what I remember, this perfectly fit Phantom's character."

"Yeah, the intentions can't be condemned." Kid Flash conceded.

"What's done is done, anyway." Robin shrugged. "Besides, I think we just found our answer to what's happening on this island."

"The cult of Kobra." Phantom knelt down by the unconscious cult members. "I've heard of these guys. Their pretty…extreme. They worship their leader like a god."

"Batman didn't mention anything about that…" M'gann whispered.

"He obviously didn't know." Robin noted.

"And these guys were going to kill each other." Superboy stated. "They obviously aren't friends."

"Then that explains why supply was cut off." Kid Flash nodded. "Okay then, mystery solved. We should call Batman."

"Not that simple…" Phantom eyed his team. "What does the cult gain from this? I mean, none of these members are on Venom. Maybe we should investigate further."

"Of course, we should!" Robin exclaimed.

"He was putting it to a vote, Rob." Kid Flash glared at his friend.

Phantom ignored the team as they argued about the leader. He really didn't care right now. This thing with Kobra was bugging him. Using Venom was extremely addictive, if he remembered correctly. Kobra was the type of guy who thought about long term. Having drug addict followers wouldn't help him…

But there was someone here that might be able to clear that up.

Phantom walked over to Bane. This caused the team to watch the ghost as he walked. Aqualad questioned. "Phantom?"

Phantom knelt down by Bane. Unlike the others, the leader was covered in ice to prevent any possible escape. Phantom didn't know how good Bane was at escaping, but he didn't want to take any chances. "(What does Kobra want with the Venom?)"

"(Wouldn't you like to know…)" Bane growled.

"You can speak Spanish?" Kid Flash questioned.

"One of my friend's main language was Esperanto. Spanish is pretty similar to it. Learning it after Esperanto wasn't that hard." Phantom explained.

"Well, we don't speak Spanish, so English please." Superboy rolled his eyes. Phantom caught a twitch though in the clone's face, though. That was a lie. Superboy did understand Spanish…

"Alright…" Phantom looked at Bane. "You know something about all this. Tell us."

"Why would I do that for nothing in return?" Bane questioned.

"You don't have a choice really." Aqualad stated.

Miss Martian looked over at Bane and focused. "I see…a secret entrance, but I can't tell where."

"That's not what I meant." Phantom stated. "He must know about Kobra's operation."

"I'll try and get more…" M'gann focused again.

"Uh uh uh, Chica." Bane smiled. "Bane isn't that easy."

"Urg…" Miss Martian groaned. "He's mentally reciting futbol scores in Espanol. This could take a while."

"We don't have that much time…" Phantom noted.

"Then we should help each other." Bane smiled. "After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Phantom glared down at the villain. "No, the enemy of my enemy is my friend…while it's convenient."

"You don't trust me?" Bane glared.

"Why would I trust you when I barely trust myself?" Phantom stated. He instantly regretted saying that. He could feel the eyes in the back of his head.

"Um…what does that mean?" Kid Flash questioned.

Phantom quickly thought up a lie. "I could easily faze into the factory, but I'm not sure what tech they have. If they have head recognition or any type of energy detector, then barging in would be suicidal."

"Then shouldn't we team up with Bane?" Superboy questioned.

"No, like I said, he'll betray us when we run out of use for him." Phantom looked around at his team. "Never trust any enemy when there's no respect between you and them."

"Respect between enemies?" Aqualad questioned. "Is that possible."

"It is…" Phantom remembered his long time enemy Skulker. The Ghost Zone's greatest hunter…before the war at least. Now…he was gone. "But it's a rare thing."

"We don't have a lot of options." Robin noted.

"Phantom's right, though." Kid Flash nodded. "Trusting the bad guy? Not smart?"

"Then what do we do?" M'gann questioned.

"We combine our powers." Phantom stated to Miss Martian. "Alone, I won't be able to overshadow him, and you can't read his mind. If we work together, though. We can get our answers."

"Grr…" Bane glared at the halfa.

"Distract his mind with one of you and take him down with the other." Aqualad nodded. "Sound strategy."

"But…I've never done something like this before." M'gann fidgeted. "What if I accidentally read into your mind and memories, too?"

Phantom froze for a moment. What if she did? She could easily get into his memories, and find his secrets. His family could be put into danger, but if he backed out now…The team might just fall apart. "I'll just have to trust you."

M'gann's eyes widened. "Are…you sure?"

"Yeah, let's do it." Phantom readied himself to jump into Bane. "Be ready…now!"

Overshadowing people was always strange. The instant change in being in another body was always weird. This was different, though. Bane's mind fought him off. He was being pushed away. Phantom fought, though. He had to give Miss Martian some time.

Then came the weirdest part. Phantom could only describe it as fingers poking at his brain. It wasn't painful, or even forceful. It felt like the fingers were merely brushing him. It only lasted a second, though. The fingers then went to Bane.

The Venom user instantly tried to divide his attention between the two mental invaders. This didn't help him, though. His mind was strong enough to fight off one of them, but their combined force almost instantly overpowered him.

Phantom blinked as he opened his eyes. He was looking up at his team. "Did you get it, M'gann?"

"Yeah…" Miss Martian nodded. "I got everything he knows about Kobra."

"Good." Phantom in Bane's body nodded. "Then we can come up with a plan."

"Alright…but can you get out of Bane's body." Kid Flash frowned. "It's really weird."

"Can do."

* * *

"Gah!" Spirit cried in pain as she felt Mirror Master's laser gun blast her in the back.

The fight had not been going well. Trying to divide her attention between the reflection and Mirror Master didn't work. In fact, defeating Mirror Master while fighting off herself was quickly proving to be impossible on her own.

Defeating one of the opponents wouldn't be too difficult. Spirit's reflection was a far weaker version of herself. Mirror Master could move through the mirrors, but Spirit's Premonition could easily predict his intentions.

Yes, individually the two would be pushovers. Together, however, they were a force that Spirit couldn't overcome on her own.

"Stop that!" Spirit twirled around in anger. She was about to blast the mirror into pieces, but was stopped by the reflection. The reflection's foot landed on the back of her head. "Gah!"

Dang it! Her Premonition was telling her the intentions, but she couldn't keep up. She was too confused and angry. The only option was to regroup and-

"AH!" Spirit crumbled to the ground and held her leg. Mirror Master's laser gun had caused her leg to collapse.

This, however, allowed Spirit's reflection the chance to attack the halfa, while she was down. The reflection repeatedly punched the real ghost in the face. In pain and desperation, Spirit brought her good leg up and kicked the reflection away from her.

Forcing herself up, Spirit groaned. This was not going well…

"It seems that my little rip-off of the real mirror seems to be effective with a little help…" Mirror Master walked out of the mirror that was furthest away from her. His laser gun was pointed at her.

Spirit eyed the weapon. That had to be ectoplasmic tech. How did he get that? There was no way he could unless… "Ectoplasmic weapons are available on the black market…"

"How insightful." Mirror Master stated. "Yes, but they are quite expensive. This cost me an arm and a leg."

Spirit frowned. It made sense. In fact, every ghost suspect this would happen after Fenton Works was robbed and destroyed.

Even then, the gun wouldn't be enough on its own to hurt her. Mirror Master just came up with a good plan. For a moment, Spirit wondered what Phantom would do in this situation. Maybe he would make duplicates, or use his ice powers…

Or even the Ghostly Wail.

She did not have those options, though. Such powers were far too advanced for her. Spirit would have to work with what she had.

'I have to destroy those mirrors…' Spirit realized. If Mirror Master couldn't move as quickly, she might be able to win.

If only Fright Knight hadn't been trapped. The mirror he had been pulled into must have been special because if Fright Knight was in the mirror world, he would have cut Mirror Master down when the villain entered the mirror. Or maybe the mirror world was just incredibly complicated. Fright Knight might just be lost…

Either way, it was obvious that Fright Knight wouldn't be able to help her. In fact, no one would be coming to help her. Spirit was on her own.

"Ack!" Spirit cried out as her reflection kicked her into the air.

The halfa slid to a halt after a second. She wasn't given the chance to get up, though. Mirror Master shot her in the shoulder before she could react.

Spirit gasped and held her shoulder in pain. She couldn't move that arm anymore. Now she was handicapped for this fight…

"Well, this plan obviously works on you." Mirror Master sighed. "But I was hoping to test it on Phantom. It needs a real challenge."

"I am a-GAh!" Spirit was hit by her reflection's blast of a ectoplasm.

"No, you're not." Mirror Master noted.

The reflection kicked Spirit in the chin.

"You're merely a weaker version of Phantom." Mirror Master mocked.

Spirit felt her stomach burn as her reflection's glowing green fist implanted in her stomach.

"You are worthless and weak."

The reflection grabbed Spirit and flung her away. Spirit flew through the air and crashed into the display with the mirror that Mirror Master wanted. The glass shattered and the mirror fell to the floor with Spirit.

"No…I'm not…" Spirit mumbled through the pain. No! She was strong! She was powerful! She was…She was…

Completely defeated.

"Gah…" Spirit moaned as she tried to rise, but collapsed in a heap. She had taken too much damage.

How did this happen? Was it because there were two opponents? No, if it were Danny, he would find a way to win. He could do it without help.

Not her, though. She needed help. The halfa girl was now the damsel in distress. How pathetic was that? But really, how often had this happened? In her past two fight before this one, she had to have her life saved by others. Without them, she would have been killed.

It was then that Spirit realized how weak she really was. She always acted so tough, but when was the last time she backed it up without help? Spirit couldn't even remember right now.

She felt like crying. All the stress of the past few months finally caught up with her. She was trembling in despair. Nevertheless, she fought off the tears. She refused to give Mirror Master the satisfaction.

"It's over, little girl." Mirror Master pointed his laser gun at Spirit.

('Gun fires. Laser hits head. Death.') Spirit's Premonition warned.

"No!" In one motion, Spirit ignored the pain and pushed herself to one knee. Her other hand quickly reached out and grabbed the nearby ancient mirror. She quickly used the mirror to block the laser and return the blast to Mirror Master.

"Gah!" Mirror Master yelped in pain. He was sent tumbling back.

"I may be weak now, but I refuse to die!" Spirit exclaimed. "I will get stronger! Then I won't have to be so reliant! I will and strive to become better! One day, people will recognize the name of Spirit as something more than Danny Phantom's partner! I will be recognized as one of the strongest!"

"Good for you, little brat." Mirror Master growled. He looked at the nearby reflection. "Kill her."

Spirit struggled to gain the rest of her strength. She focused as much energy as she could through her body. The halfa began to gain a green glow.

'Think of way to push yourself.' Spirit instructed herself. 'Think of those who push you to be better…'

Danny

Dad

Valerie

Wulf

And don't forget the friend that had passed. Don't forget Kle-

"AH!" Spirit shouted in pain as she felt her energy be drained from her. What was happening? Where was her power going? Why…Why was she…

The mirror in Spirit's hands began to glow. It appeared to be draining power from her. The glass of the mirror seemed to be swirling with energy and images. Then, green energy blasted out of the mirror.

Spirit collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"What?" Mirror Master glared through the smoke. He saw an image stand in front of him and the reflection. It wasn't the girl, though. No, this person was a lot taller.

"Who are you?" Mirror Master questioned.

No answer.

"Don't tell me…the girl used the Mirror of Memories?" Mirror Master questioned. "No…there is no way she could possess that much energy."

There was still silence.

"I am the winner here! Reflection, attack!" Mirror Master ordered.

The reflection immediately obeyed. The Spirit copy instantly lunged at the person standing over the original Spirit. It didn't get far, though. It was stopped in an instant.

"What!?...Wait! What are you…No!" Mirror Master cried.

The room was covered in blue light.

* * *

The team left Bane and the other men hidden in the forest. They would be dealt with later. Now, though, they had to get into the factory.

After finding the secret entrance under a bolder, the team quickly made their way through the secret tunnel. It was fortunate that Miss Martian had gotten so much information from Bane. She now knew these tunnels like the back of her hand.

"Make sure to stay together right now." Phantom looked over at Robin and Kid Flash. "We cannot afford to be separated."

Aqualad, Superboy, and Miss Martian all nodded. Kid Flash and Robin looked somewhat frustrated, but agreed nonetheless. Phantom wondered what those looks meant for a moment, but quickly brushed it off. Now was not the time to let his mind wander.

After getting into the factory and successfully hiding, Phantom looked at the others. "There's a computer system up there. Robin, you're the best hacker."

"On it!" Robin was about to go, but was stopped by Phantom. "What?"

"Something's not right…" Phantom placed his free hand over his ear. The radio wasn't working. "Our communication is jammed.

Everyone checked their ears. Aqualad frowned. "That's not good."

"We really can't get separated then." Kid Flash noted.

"I can hear anything you whisper in this room." Superboy noted.

"That won't help the rest of us with normal hearing…" Robin sighed.

"We need to communicate…" Phantom looked over at Miss Martian. "Can you help with that?"

"Yeah, I can set up a mental link, but…" M'gann's eyes wondered to Superboy. "I don't…"

Superboy looked away.

"SB," Phantom stated. "We don't have much of an option. I trusted Miss Martian, now it's your turn."

Superboy slowly nodded. "Fine."

"Okay." Phantom nodded at Miss Martian. "Do it."

If Phantom could describe how having the mental link set up, he would say that it felt like a speaker phone had been turned on in his head. It wasn't painful, but it was…weird.

'Can everyone hear me?' M'gann questioned mentally.

'Wow, that's weird.' Kid Flash mentally groaned.

'But it worked.' Aqualad nodded at M'gann.

'It did…' Superboy noted.

'Now, what?' Miss Martian questioned.

'Because of the mental link, we can instantly communicate.' Phantom explained. 'Now we can regroup immediately if needed, but for now, we should spread out through the factory. Find out as much as you can and stay in contact.'

'What about that thing that defeated Bane in his memories?' Miss Martian questioned.

'Right now, we should avoid combat, but just in case, we'll stay in groups of two. Robin and Kid Flash can access the computers. Miss Martian and Aqualad can stay low and try to get an idea of what's going on. I'll fly Superboy up to the catwalk invisibly. This will allow him to get the best view and scope of what's happening. Is that okay with everyone?' Phantom finished.

Everyone nodded.

'Okay, let's spread out.'

The groups then dispersed. Phantom quickly grabbed Superboy under his armpits and turned invisible. The halfa flew them over factory and began to observe what was happening.

'They look like their only taking out new shipments.' Superboy stated.

'Does Venom expire?' Phantom questioned.

'It takes a long time.' Robin noted. 'Years actually.'

'Guys, I read the minds of the Kobra Cultists. They keep thinking about some new type of Venom.' Miss Martian explained.

'That is not good.' Aqualad noted. 'It could be the substance that made the monster that beat Bane while he was using Venom.'

'…Um, yeah, I think that's exactly what it is.' Kid Flash informed them. 'From what Rob hacked, the Venom was mixed with Blockbuster formula from Cadmus.'

'It changes the user into a powerful monster…permanently.' Robin explained.

'Great…' Phantom groaned mentally. 'Just what we need.'

'…I hear a helicopter.' Superboy noted.

'That could be the buyer.' Aqualad stated.

'Miss M, bring Aqualad to the catwalk above at the top of the factory.' Phantom ordered. 'We'll meet him up here. Then, you can go take a look at the buyer. Find out who it is.'

'Understood.' Miss Martian confirmed.

Phantom and Superboy quickly met up with Aqualad on the catwalk. Phantom noted. 'We might need to destroy the supply of Kobra Venom.'

'Venom can be rather explosive.' Robin noted. 'It wouldn't take much to send this place sky high.'

'Isn't that a little extreme for a covert operation?' Kid Flash questioned.

'Maybe, it depends…' Phantom looked over the factory.

'Depends on what?' Superboy questioned.

'Who the buyers are. When they're going to do the trading. If we have a few days until the trade, then we'll be safe to leave and turn this over to the Justice League. But if it happens now...well, we might have to act.' Phantom explained.

Aqualad nodded at the halfa. 'That makes sense, but I would prefer to avoid any more fighting.'

'Agreed.' Phantom acknowledged. 'I think we can avoid an all out brawl.'

'Phantom, I found the buyers. Sending a mental image to the entire team now.' Miss Martian informed.

'…Or maybe not…' Phantom's fists clenched. 'Crap…'

'Sportsmaster!' Aqualad mentally shouted in alarm. 'We are official over our heads.'

'We've been over our heads since we found out about Kobra!' Kid Flash exclaimed.

'We can take him!' Superboy stated.

'It's not him I'm worried about…' Phantom felt sweet run down his neck. 'It's the other two that are the wild cards…'

'Who are they?' Miss Martian questioned as she followed the group of villains into the factory.

The group consisted of several people. Kobra was a pale man wearing a red robe with a snake hood. The giant being with tough grey skin and red hair was the mammoth that beat Bane. Sportsmaster was the blond man in the goalie mask and sports equipment. In addition, there was a man as pale as death wearing a white suit and black hat.

There were also two girls in the group. One girl had red hair and tattoos. The other, however, was different. She had pink hair set into two horns. Her black and purple leotard top went into a short skirt. Her pants had black and purple stripes.

'The really pale guy in the suit is a ghost named Walker. The girl…her name is Jinx.' Phantom informed.

'Never heard of her…' Everyone could practically hear Kid Flash drooling.

'Trust me, she's dangerous.' Phantom warned. 'They both are.'

'Then what do we do?' Miss Matian questioned as she landed by the boys on the catwalk.

Phantom watched as the group walked through the factory. 'This is an emergency situation. This place needs to go down now.'

'But how do we do that?' Aqualad questioned.

'Robin, Miss Martian, and I can set up explosives. I have plenty with me that we can use. We need to be careful, though.' Phantom warned. 'Kobra, Sportsmaster, Walker, Jinx, and even that…Mammoth might be able to spot us.'

'What about the rest of us?' Superboy questioned.

'SB, stay up here, you're the look out. Also listen in on the group. M'gann, can you send what he hears through the link?' Phantom inquired.

'Yes.'

'Alright, we'll need to know the full details. Aqualad, Kid Flash, sneak outside. Set up explosives on the outside. Like at the helicopter and nearby jungle. That way, we can draw everyone out of here with a distraction.' Phantom informed.

'No one will get hurt by the explosions.' Robin realized.

'Yes. Any arguments?' Phantom questioned.

There were none.

'Then let's do this.'

* * *

"Ch…ke up….irit!...wake…up!" Fright Knight nudged Spirit awake.

"Ugh…" Spirit groaned as her eyes opened. "What…what happened?

"I was hoping you could tell me." Fright Knight sighed.

"What do you mean?" Spirit sat up and was instantly surprised. She was lying in a soft pile of…snow. It wasn't cold, though. In fact, it was almost like a bed.

"That…" Fright Knight gestured at the snow, then the rest of the room. "And that."

Spirit looked around and was shocked. Everything was completely frozen. The only thing that was even partially free of ice was Mirror Master. His torso was frozen to a nearby wall. The rest of him was okay, but he appeared to be unconscious.

"What the…" Spirit's eyes widened.

"My thoughts exactly…" Fright Knight helped the girl to her feet. "Did you do this?"

"No…or, at least, I don't think I did…" Spirit shrugged.

"Then who…" Fright Knight's gaze went to Spirit's hands. "What are you holding?"

"Oh, this?" Spirit held up the ancient mirror. "This was what Mirror Master was after."

Fright Knight snagged it from Spirit.

"Hey! Rude much?!" Spirit glared.

"This is…" Fright Knight gripped the mirror painfully. "Bad. I thought this was gone..."

"What is it?" Spirit questioned.

"Something that is very dangerous…" Fright Knight eyed the mirror. "Did…you use this?"

"I…" Spirit remembered the fight. She remembered her last stand. She remembered the sudden drain in her energy. She remembered…

Her weakness.

Spirit's shoulders instantly slumped.

Fright Knight noticed this. "Did you remember anyone that…has passed?"

"Huh?" Spirit mumbled and looked up sadly. She looked like a kicked puppy. "I don't…I guess. I did think about Klemper for a moment."

"The ice ghost friend of yours and my lord." Fright Knight noted. "And this place is frozen."

"Um…yes?" Spirit questioned. "Does that matter?"

"Yes, but…I can't take this right now. If a ghost goes and steals a priceless artefact… Tensions will skyrocket." Fright Knight sighed. "I will leave it hear and inform Vision of what happened...or perhaps she probably knows. This happened while I was in the mirror, so I didn't sense it, but many others might have sensed it happen."

"And what did happen?" Spirit eyed the frozen room in distaste.

"Your victory." Fright Knight noted. "You defeated Mirror Master on your own."

"But the mirror…"

"Is merely a tool." Fright Knight stated. "Using tools and weapons are a part of battle."

"…I guess…"

"Spirit, this is your victory."

"Maybe…"

But it sure didn't feel like it…

* * *

After giving the team their share of the bombs, Phantom went to work in order to uphold his part of the plan. Despite being invisible, people could still hear him and see what he did to the environment. He would need to be careful.

While this was happening, Phantom heard what the group of villains were saying through M'gann's mental link.

"Did you run into any problems, Lord Kobra?" Sportsmaster questioned.

"There was a problem with Bane and his men, but that will soon be dealt with." Kobra noted.

"Hmm…" Jinx raised an eyebrow. "Should I deal with him?"

"No, my men can handle it." Kobra noted.

"Doubtful." Walker glared at the humans. "They aren't alert enough for my tastes."

"Here we go…" Jinx rolled her eyes. "I have to hear this all the time since I was made your babysitter. It's always, 'my prison this,' and 'my prison that.' It's annoying as hell."

"My prison was the greatest until Danny Phantom messed it up." Walker growled. "And I never asked to have you as my stalker."

"Someone has to keep an eye on the new guy." Jinx smirked. "Besides, this is my vacation from my last mission."

"Be quite you two." Sportsmaster snapped. "Lord Kobra doesn't want to hear you squabble."

"Quite the contrary. These mortals' little spat amuses me." Kobra stated. "Especially the part about Danny Phantom."

"Interested in the spook?" Sportsmaster questioned.

"Who isn't these days?" Kobra chuckled. "He's quite the interesting topic. In fact, I've heard that you had a run in with him when Daniel Fenton was kidnapped."

"Don't remind me." Sportsmaster growled. "That's the last time I'll go easy on the little snot."

"You just chose the wrong approach." Jinx shrugged. "He won't go down easily in an open fight. You need to sneak up on him and take him out before he can react. Trust me, he's not the type for stealth. It would be easy to get the jump on him."

"If you're human. He can sense ghosts…" Walker mumbled.

"You seem to know quite a lot about Phantom." Kobra mentioned.

"I observed him." Jinx gained a wide grin. "That's all I need to do to know everything about him."

"Oh? How so?"

"Trade secret."

'Are your ears burning, Phantom?' Kid Flash joked through the mind link.

'Not funny.' Phantom placed the last bomb.

'Just be careful not to sneeze.' Robin chuckled mentally.

'Oh, shut up.' Phantom growled. 'I'm done by the way.'

'Ditto!' M'gann cheered.

'That makes three of us.' Robin responded.

'That's all the bombs.' Aqualad noted.

'What do we do next?' Superboy questioned.

'I'm going to get you out of here.' Phantom informed. 'Miss Martian and Robin can get out on their own. Once everyone is ready, blow the bombs on the outside, Kid.'

'My absolute pleasure.' You could almost feel the grin on Kid Flash's face.

'Once that is done, everyone will come out running.' Phantom explained. 'Once that happens, and they are far enough away from the factory, jump them. Kid Flash and Aqualad, distract the goons. If you finish quickly, help who looks like they need the most help. Miss Martian, brain blast Mammoth. He doesn't look like he can take it. SB, try and take down Sportsmaster. He's human, but tough as nails.

'Robin, take out the red haired chick and distract Kobra. After M'gann is done, she'll help you take down the snake, then you two can help SB takedown Sportsmaster.' Phantom finished.

'What about you?' Miss Martian asked.

'I'm going to take down Walker and Jinx.' Phantom answered. 'I'm the only one familiar with their powers and fighting styles. I'll hold out until you guys can back me up. But Kid, make sure to blow up the factory before you get too into the fight. And most importantly, remember the drills that we've been working at the Cave. Any questions?'

There were none.

'Alright, go!'

The following events occurred just as Phantom predicted. The reactions of the villains were predictable. They were soon gaping at the burning remains of the helicopter and jungle trees. In a side note, Phantom had to thank Vlad for all the strategy training…

That was when the team attacked. Everyone went to their assigned targets. Phantom didn't pay attention to that, though. He didn't even pay attention as the factory was destroyed in explosions. He had his own targets to attack.

"What is going on!?" Jinx shouted.

"How should I-Ah!" Walker shouted in surprise as something grabbed him and threw him into Jinx. The two villains went tumbling until they came to a halt several feet away.

"So I'm not very stealthy, huh?" Phantom turned visible and faced the duo. "Well, I just managed to trick all of you without you knowing it."

"Punk!" Walker barked as he got to his feet. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Tracking you down, Walker. You're a wanted man." Phantom answered.

"And you brought along the sidekick brigade apparently…" Jinx eyed the other members of the team of young heroes.

"Don't think I forgot about you, Jinx." Phantom glared at the girl. "I remember what you did in my town…"

That's right…he remembered. He remembered everything about Jenifer…or Jinx…or whatever he should call her. She was the girl that he once called a friend, but she really wasn't. She was secretly working with the Shadows in order to trick Danny and rob Fenton Works.

Despite these circumstances, Fenton and Jenifer separated on generally good terms after a heartfelt goodbye. Phantom and Jinx, however, were still enemies.

"Do you really think you can beat to two of us?" Jinx smirked.

'No, not at this time…' "Of course." Phantom took a self-defense stance.

"Then get ready, punk!" Walker flew at Phantom at full speed.

Using his agility, Phantom dodged the charge but was forced to change course. Jinx's pink hex blasts barely missed Phantom. Phantom then used this opportunity to charge at Jinx. All the while, Jinx continued to fire hex blasts at Phantom. Each blast was skillfully dodged.

Phantom was about to attack Jinx, but was stopped. Walker grabbed the halfa's leg and slammed Phantom into the ground. Unable to roll away, Phantom was forced to faze through the ground in order to dodge Jinx's hex blasts.

A moment later, Phantom fazed through the ground and tried to hit Walker in the jaw. The ex-warden quickly blocked this blow, however, "Is that all? You've gotten slower, punk!"

Another Phantom came out of the ground and hit Walker in the face. "It's called duplicates!"

Before Phantom could react, a large hex bolt hit him and his duplicate. The duplicate quickly faded. Then, Walker kicked Phantom in the back. Phantom went tumbling forward and was unable to dodge another hex bolt.

"You're moves have gotten smother, but they lack the speed, power, and ferocity you had before…" Jinx noted. "Off day?"

"More like long night…" Phantom picked up his bruised body. He might be able to regenerate, but he no longer had the luxary of being able to use it on anything other than fatal wounds. If he did, he would exhaust himself to the point of collapsing.

"Good for us!" Walker nailed a hook punch on Phantom's head. Phantom, however, used this momentum to spin around and hit Walker with a spinning back fist.

Dodging to the left, Phantom allowed Jinx's hex bolt to hit Walker. The ex-warden was sent flying back. In her surprise, Jinx let her guard down and allowed Phantom to hit her with an ectoplasmic blast.

'That's it…' Phantom realized. 'They have no teamwork. I can use that.'

Phantom quickly position himself next to Jinx. The pink eyed girl reacted immediately and sent several kicks at Phantom. Phantom dodged each kick. Then, the halfa suddenly swerved. The side kick nailed Walker in the stomach.

"Gah! Watch it!" Walker glared.

"Don't get in my way!" Jinx shouted.

Phantom stayed in between Jinx and Walker. Usually, this would be a bad thing in a fight, but because the duo lacked teamwork, they kept accidentally hitting each other.

Eventually, Phantom saw the perfect opening.

One of Walker's punches hit Jinx in the midsection. This caused her to hunch over. Phantom quickly acted. He grabbed Jinx's head and used it to hit Walker straight in the jaw. This greatly hurt both parties.

Phantom then gathered green energy into his fist. He blasted the duo away from him in a devastating blow. The energy in it was probably too much considering Phantom's lower energy, but he didn't have a choice. He had an opening, and he took it.

Both villains were sent crashing into the trees. Phantom quickly followed after them. He needed to end this, so he pulled out a Fenton Thermos. He could capture Walker and knock Jinx out.

By the time Phantom got to their location, Jinx and Walker were both on their feet. They looked agitated and bruised. It was clear that they couldn't work together at this moment.

"Heads up!" Phantom aimed his thermos at Walker.

He wasn't captured, though. Jinx stepped in the way and stopped the thermos' power. But…the odd thing was that some of Jinx's energy was being sucked up by the thermos.

Phantom quickly stopped and examined the thermos. "What?"

Did it have an effect on meta-humans?

"I think it would be best to implement the rule of retreating." Walker suggested.

Jinx looked past Phantom at the team. She frowned at the sight. "I agree. Until next time, cutie."

Before Phantom could stop them, both Jinx and Walker disappeared in a swirl of pink energy. Sighing, Phantom groaned. "Damn, almost had them…"

"It was a good shot, though." Kid Flash zipped up to Phantom. "You took them both on at once."

"Yeah…" Phantom looked at the others as they approached him. "Did it work?"

"Of course!" M'gann smiled.

"They didn't stand a chance." Robin smirked. "After Miss M knocked out Mammoth, she did the same to Kobra."

"Unfortunately, Sportsmaster ran away when the goings got tough." Superboy rolled his eyes.

"Too bad…" Phantom remembered how Sportsmaster interacted him (as Fenton) in the past. He threatened Dani's life, sucker punched Fenton, and tried to kill Fenton during his escape from the Shadows. Needless to say, Phantom wanted Sportsmaster behind bars.

"Can't get them all." Kid Flash shrugged.

"But we did good work here." Aqualad smiled. "We discovered the disturbance, destroyed the supply of a dangerous new chemical drug, and captured several dangerous criminals. It was a good night's work."

"Yeah." Phantom nodded. "Pretty good for not having a leader, huh?"

The team stared at him. Forget everything discussed before. Danny Phantom is completely clueless.

"What?" Phantom raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you get it, spooky?" Kid Flash flung his arm around Phantom's shoulder. "You're the leader."

"What?"

"Hello, Megan!" M'gann smiled. "It's completely obvious."

"Not that hard to figure out." Superboy smirked.

"But…I …" Phantom didn't know what to say.

"You were the one to lead us when things became difficult." Kaldur explained. "You were the one that not only kept us all safe, but also united us to come out the victors of this battle. These are the things a true leader does."

"…Are you guys sure?" Phantom questioned. "I…don't have a perfect record for making the perfect choices."

"We all make mistakes, man." Robin shrugged. "But you are the only one here with leadership experience. I, kind of wanted to be leader myself-"

Kid Flash snorted. "Kind of?"

Robing ignored him. "But you are clearly the best choice. Anyone can see that."

"…Okay then. I'll try, but I don't make any promises…" Phantom conceded. He wasn't completely sure about this, though. The concept of leading...frightened him, but...the looks they were giving made him fell like he didn't have a choice.

"Don't worry about it, bro." Kid Flash playfully punched him in the shoulder. "You've totally proved yourself."

Kaldur smiled. "We trust you."

'But should you really…' Phantom wondered to himself.

"Exactly, and we especially trust you to explain everything to Batman." Robin smiled.

Phantom looked around at all the destruction. "Please, Batman had to expect this if he put me on this team."

No one could argue with that.

* * *

(Friday-July 23, 2010)

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Batman got right in Phantom's face.

"Well, we managed to discover what was happening to the Venom, destroy the new drug, and capture Bane, Kobra, Mammoth, and a ton of cultists." Phantom explained. "Oh, and Kid Flash got one of the cultist's mask as a souvenir."

"Bro, leave me out of this…" Kid Flash mumbled.

"It was a simple recon mission. Observe and report." Batman glared.

"And if we did that, the world might now be threatened by Kobra Venom." Phantom noted. "You can reprimand me all you want, but everything that was done was the right call. In the end, Young Justice returned safely, and the world was made a little safer."

The other members of the team perked up at 'Young Justice.'

Batman was silent for a moment. Then, he said. "You each will receive a written report of every little detail that you did wrong, but in the end…good job."

Everyone perked up at that.

"I agree. The right calls were made at the most important moments, and the team…Young Justice completed the mission and returned safely." Batman acknowledged as he began to walk away. "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success."

Phantom smiled at that.

"And how you determine who leads, determines character." Batman added in, then sighed. "Besides, I expected this the moment Phantom was placed on this team."

Phantom gave Robin a look that said, 'I told you so!'

After Batman left, Superboy looked at Phantom. "Young Justice?"

"I don't know." Phantom shrugged. "I just can't stand being called 'the team.' It annoys me."

"Where'd you come up with that?" M'gann questioned.

"I came up with a list." Phantom held up said list. "My final two were the Teen Titans and Young Justice."

"Why go with the latter?" Aqualad questioned.

"It…felt right." Phantom nodded.

"Well, I like it!" Wally interjected. "I think it suits us."

"It does seem…fitting." Aqualad nodded.

"Perfect!" M'gann smiled.

"It's alright with me." Superboy shrugged.

"Young Justice…it notes that we are affiliated with the League, but we're our own group." Robin smiled. "Awesome."

"Glad you like it…" Phantom began walking away to the Zeta Tube. "It would have sucked if I had a mutiny on my hands over the name."

"What would you have done if we hated the name?" Robin questioned.

"Cried in the corner for a while." Phantom said with all seriousness.

There was a moment of pause, then, the entire Cave was filled with laughter.

* * *

"Are you paying attention, Phantom?" A woman covered in purple robes, purple headdress, and purple veil questioned.

"What?" Danny, in human form, looked up from his Tucker Phone.

"Give me that." Vision, the Ghost Zone's Undefeated Strategist and most dangerous ghost, grabbed the phone. "The Mirror of Memories is more important than the Goddess of the Hunt needing arrows."

"Umm…" Danny frowned. "It's not actually…"

"Daniel," Vlad sighed as he looked at his apprentice across the living room of the Masters Mansion. "This is serious."

"I know, but I've got a lot to deal with right now…" Danny sighed.

"Yeah, we know." Dani mumbled from the couch. She was holding Cujo closely to her. "But in case you didn't notice, we have a crisis on our hands."

"When did you become so serious?" Danny questioned. "Besides, there's always a crisis about to happen. Remember, Grundy? Freakshow? We still need to solve those problems first. How do we contain the zombie and how do we catch the freak?"

"This is different. There is nothing we can do the interfere in those situations right now. But with this, we can." Vision noted. "We are talking about the Mirror of Memories and the immediate danger it represents."

"Yeah, I know." Danny gestured to Fright Knight who was standing in the corner. "He told me about it. Wide Smile Jester of the Ancient Six originally made the mirror. No one knew what happened to it, and now it's both found and activated."

"And that is why we need to get the mirror before anyone else does." Vision explained. "The destruction it could cause would be terrifying, but we cannot just take it. Ghosts are now being watched closely by the world's governments. You and Spirit might be an exception because of your good deeds and get way with running all over the place, but everyone else…"

"What mirror do?" Wulf questioned as he looked at Vision.

"It can make…a reflection of a memory." Vision noted. "Jester wanted to use it to give people closure to those lost, but people aren't remembered exactly how they existed, but how they were perceived. The memory is distorted. Sometimes better, sometimes worse."

"I'm not seeing the impact yet." Danny noted.

"That is the impact. The Mirror of Memories can essentially bring the memory of a person to life. It takes a memory, gives it form, and, in many cases, sends it to battle." Vision stated. "It takes a lot of power to do so, though."

"But Dani used it on her own…" Danny noted. "How much power does it need?"

"A lot." Vision explained. "Using it exhausted Spirit, but it did work. I believed it created a reflection of your friend Klemper."

"…" Danny frowned. "I…see…"

"If it gets into the wrong hands, the mirror could possibly make an army of reflections. Soldiers that feel no pain and do not tire." Fright Knight joined the conversation.

"But it would require an enormous amount of power." Vlad mentioned. "Powering that kind of army would be difficult."

"It is possible, though." Vision acknowledged. "The universe is full of power sources that could fuel the mirror."

"Okay, this thing's dangerous." Danny nodded. "What do we do?"

"Like I said, we cannot just take it. It would lead to a lot of trouble." Vision explained. "I will need to make a formal request to move the mirror to a safe location. Until then, I will place my servants on guard for the mirror. They will be instructed to especially look out for Freakshow and the 6 most wanted ghosts."

"Not just them, though." Fright Knight noted. "By now, anyone with the ability to sense the mirror's power knows of the mirror's location."

"So basically, we're going to have a ton of dangerous groups of people scrambling to attack my city and steal the Mirror of Memories?" Danny wanted to clarify.

"Exactly."

"Like I didn't have enough problems to deal with."

* * *

The Ghoul Project…

Joel didn't know what to think when he first arrived at the facility. They were underground, so Joel instantly knew escaping alone would be difficult. Then there was the massive steel wall, armed guards, and glass tubes with monsters floating in them.

At that point, Joel knew escaping alone was impossible.

As he sat in his steel cage, Joel watched as the scientists moved back and forth. He had watched. He learned. He saw what they were doing to the others that were being held here.

Every single one of them were dying slowly and painfully.

Well, that wasn't true. One of the 'experiments' lived through the process. That big pale guy with more muscles than brains. Apparently, his unusual relation with the Lazarus Pit caused the body to become incredibly durable.

"What was his name…" Joel wondered out loud. He was always terrible with names. "Sasquatch Groopy?...No…Hmm…I forget…"

Despite the deadly situation, Joel remained calm. That's how it always was. No matter what life threw at him, he just shrugged it off.

Grew up in an orphanage for six years?

He shrugged it off.

Adopted by an organization of assassins?

He shrugged it off.

Thrown out of the organization and put in a hellish lab experiment where he would surely die?

He shrugged it off.

Joel's seemingly indifference normally turned people off. It made him appear cold and unfeeling, but that was far from the truth. Joel just didn't let the small things get to him. When he was motivated, though, Joel was unbreakable. Like the League of Shadows quickly found out when Joel refused to kill.

Joel then noticed that his daily food and water had been slid into his cage. The ten year old made his way to the necessary substances. For now, he needed them to live.

But for how long exactly?

* * *

**Bonding Moment: Aqualad**

Aqualad flipped Phantom onto the floor of the Cave's training area. He held his fist right in front of Phantom's face. "You are distracted."

Phantom groaned. "What gave it away?"

"Normally, it takes longer to hit you." Kaldur helped Phantom to his feet. "What happened?"

"A lot of confusing crap at home. Don't worry." Phantom shrugged. "I've got family and friends to help me deal with it."

"It must be nice to have such people you can trust." Aqualad noted.

"You act like you don't have any." Phantom stated. "You were the one that said you trusted me."

"That I did." Kaldur nodded. "I suppose I forgot."

"Forgot! Some friend you are…" Phantom smirked. "The second-in-command shouldn't forget what he says to the leader."

"You…" Kaldur's eyes widened. "I…am second-in-command?"

"Yeah, honestly I thought you were going to lead in the first place, but since everyone seems to think that I'm the leader just because I was ordering people around…" Phantom snorted. "Then you'll just have to settle for being lieutenant."

"I am honored." Kaldur nodded.

"Awesome, now could you help me with my hand-to-hand combat, lieutenant?" Phantom questioned. "I really need to work on it."

"Obviously." Kaldur smirked. "You never take the opportunity to counter attack. I don't understand really. You did fine in your fight with Walker and Jinx."

"I'm trying not to use my powers…It's messing me up." Phantom noted. "If I used them, I could totally beat you."

"Perhaps, but you were the one who set the rules." Kaldur smirked. "You must live with them."

"Technaclly, I'm dead." Phantom noted.

"That explains why your reaction time is so slow."

"Oh! Low blow! Alright, then fish boy. Bring it!"

"Consider it brought."

* * *

**Danny's instincts kick in, and he takes the lead without even realizing it.**

**No one has asked yet, but...Yes, I do know about the comics that are linked to the show. No, I won't use them. Most of them weren't all that great. Besides Artemis' origin, of course. I liked that one. Plus, since Kobra was captured, the events involving him in the comics never happened.**

**Oh, happy Valentine's Day by the way. It's such a weird holiday. For single people (guys at least), it doesn't really matter. For couples, it's supposed to be one of the most romantic days of the year. No pressure.**

**Thank you all for reading and please remember to...**

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW**


	5. Foresight

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised." Denis Waitley

* * *

Chapter 5: "Foresight"

(Tuesday-August 3, 2010)

"Danielle?" Vlad walked into the training room of the mansion. It was filled with punching bags, weights, and other specialized equipment. "Are you alright?"

Spirit looked up from her spot in the middle of the floor. She had been working on improving her speed by flying back and forth through the room. "Yeah…"

"Really…" Vlad approached the girl. "Because you've been training all morning."

"Danny was in here too." Spirit argued as she landed on the ground.

"Yes, but that was two hours ago." Vlad mentioned. "Yet here you are still training…"

"What's wrong with training?" Spirit mumbled defensively.

"Nothing as long as you give yourself time to rest." Vlad frowned.

"I took some breaks…" Spirit mentioned.

"Not enough." Vlad stated. "Come downstairs and get something to eat."

"I don't feel like it." Spirit turned away. "I'm going to keep training."

"You make it sound like you have a choice." Vlad raised an eyebrow.

Spirit whipped her head and glared at her father. "And I don't?"

"No, your father is giving you an order." Vlad explained.

"So you're ordering me to stop training, but you let Danny train all night at times." Spirit huffed. "That's a double standard."

"Yes, perhaps it is…" Vlad nodded slowly. "But his case is different."

"And why is that!?" Spirit snapped. "Because I'm young? Because I'm a girl? Because I'm weak?"

"No, Danielle." Vlad knelt down. "It's not because of any of those things, and it's most definitely not because you are weak, because you're not."

"Then what?! Why am I always held back by you?!" Spirit yelled. "Why do you always let Danny do more than me?!"

"He is my responsibility, but Daniel has never been one to listen to me. He has already found his own path. I don't know where it leads, but I respect the fact that he has chosen that path, because despite the fact that he is under my protection, he is not my child." Vlad stared Spirit in the eye. "You are, though."

"No I'm not…" Spirit mumbled. "I'm a clone of Danny, an imperfect one at that…"

"You may not be my child in blood, but that doesn't matter." Vlad noted. "You are my daughter, and nothing will change that."

"…" Spirit looked away. "I know that, but I'm tired of this. Each time there is a challenge, I'm held back. I either have help, lose, or am kept from the fight altogether. I'm tired of it!"

"Danielle…"

"Dad, I'm weak!" Spirit clenched her fists. "I have always been weak, but was too suborn to admit it."

"You are not weak, Danielle." Vlad tried to comfort the girl.

"Yes I am." Spirit took a step back. "And I'm sick of it. I want to be able to fight on my own. I want to win with my own power."

"Your own power? You are able to throw grown men around like rag dolls. You can defeat ghosts that many of the meta-humans on the planet would have trouble with. You can predict a person's intentions and avoid attacks that would hit either Daniel or I." Vlad noted. "How can you undermine that power?"

"It's never enough, though!" Spirit cried. "Every time a crisis occurs, I can never help like I want to! With Mirror Master, Freakshow, and Grundy, I couldn't do anything. I couldn't stop Klemper's death, and I definitely couldn't save Danny when he was about to be killed!"

"…I see…" Vlad nodded.

"No, you don't!" Spirit yelled.

"Danielle, it wasn't your fault-"

"No! No more excuses!" Spirit stepped away. "I'm done with this!"

In an instant, Spirit had turned intangible and flew out of the room. Vlad did nothing to stop her. She needed to cool off some. It reminded Vlad a lot of how Danny was before the war.

Yes, she definitely got those emotions from her genetic father.

* * *

Phantom could honestly say that he was completely exhausted. The past few weeks had been non-stop work for the halfa. He had to juggle his time between Young Justice, Axion Labs, protecting the Mirror of Memories, keeping the search going for the missing ghosts, and trying to keep the peace between the humans and the ghosts.

Actually, that last one basically summed up everything Phantom went through for the past few weeks. Trying to keep the peace between humans and ghosts was easier said than done, and just saying it was hard enough.

After the discovery of the Mirror of Memories, the relations of the ghosts and the humans became even rockier. Vision had tried to convince the humans to either put the mirror in hiding, or give it to the ghosts for safe keeping. In truth, this wasn't a too outrageous request. The memory of war was still fresh in the minds of everyone, though, and that complicated things.

Many humans, the US government, the UN, and the Justice League specifically, didn't want to take orders from a ghost. Thus, the first barrier appeared. The humans were unwilling to cooperate.

Phantom couldn't barely believe his ears. He knew that the UN and League had to be…insecure about ghosts, but didn't they understand the danger? Were they really letting their pride get in the way of the safety of both their worlds?

Granted, the UN's (and to a lesser extent the United States) reputation went south after the GIW went rogue and decided to attack the Ghost Zone, but they shouldn't blame the ghosts. The ghosts merely defended themselves. That may have been the problem, though. Everyone knew that the humans were in the wrong and that the UN made a mistake. It had to be a difficult fact to accept.

Then, the Justice League…

Phantom could honestly say he was disappointed in them. Were they really that bitter about the war? Yes, almost every Leaguer was either defeated or pushed to a standstill against the ghosts (or in some cases, two Leaguers were defeated by one ghost), but they should get over it. Phantom lost a lot during his time as a hero.

Of course, not all the Leaguers had such feelings about the ghosts. Some such as Superman and Captain Marvel were ready to trust the ghosts. Others seemed a lot more paranoid, though.

So…maybe it was Vision herself that might be the problem. As a master strategist, espionage expert, and genius, Vision had discretely discovered all the secret identities of the League. Phantom could understand the mistrust that was directed at a being that could not only defeat two Leaguers with ease, but also ruin the entire League's secrecy with a few choice words.

Nevertheless, Phantom had to intervene. The halfa had a lot of good will from all parties. He was the person who saved the Ghost Zone, stopped the GIW and the war, and was also a member of the ghost's Council of the Elite and Young Justice.

…Yeah, he had a lot of crap going on…

Luckily, that helped in this situation. He managed to cool everyone down and get everyone to agree to at least move the mirror. That, however, led to the current problem.

No one could agree on where the mirror should go.

The ghosts wanted it in the Ghost Zone. The UN wanted it locked away in secret, or even destroyed. Even the League was arguing to have it under their protection.

With that problem, however, Phantom didn't know what to do, and with more and more people trying to steal the mirror…He might not have the chance to fix it.

"Danny? You wanted to speak with me?" Superman flew up the halfa who was floating above Metropolis.

Despite the craziness with keeping the mirror safe, lowering tensions between ghosts and humans, and even trying to get Technus to work with the humans at Axion Labs, Phantom still took his role as leader of Young Justice seriously. He tried to go out of his way to help his team adjust to the change of having to rely on people other than their mentors. For the most part, that part was easy, but there was a single problem.

Superboy.

"Hey." Phantom waved tiredly. "Yeah, thanks for agreeing to meet with me."

"It's not a problem." Superman smiled. "It's rare that you meet with anyone in the League when it doesn't have to do with a crisis…It's not a crisis, is it? Because if its about the Mirror of Memories, then you should know that I'm on your side. Batman and I are trying to get everyone in agreement, but…"

"That's okay. This isn't about that." Phantom noted.

"Then what is this about?" Superman questioned.

"…Superboy…"

The expression on Superman's face instantly went from happy to annoyed. "I see…"

"Look, I'm not here to get on your bad side." Phantom tried to calm the Kryptonian. "But I've been hanging around SB for weeks. He's angry as hell, and I don't blame him. I know that you must feel violated, but don't take it out on him. All he's trying to do is make you proud."

"I understand what you're trying to do, Danny. I really do. You're looking out for your team, but that doesn't have anything to do with me." Superman frowned.

"Yes it does." Phantom stated without a single hint of doubt. "Like it or not, you two are connected. You are related by genetics. That means a lot to Superboy. There is not a single other person on the planet that can relate to him as a Kryptonian."

"Blood isn't the only things that makes family."

"No, it doesn't. Most of my family is not related to be, but that doesn't change anything." Phantom eyed the powerful being before him. "Family is family, and neither of us is allowed to be picky here."

Superman sighed. "What do you want?"

"Just spend some time with him." Phantom clarified. "He looks up to you as a goal and role model. Basically, he already idolizes you. Just give him a chance. Do a patrol or help train him. Anything will do. Hell, I bet a freaking pat on the shoulder and a 'good job' will make his day."

"Okay, I get it, but this is different than anything you dealt with." Superman argued. "This is my clone. You don't realize how I feel about that. Someone took my DNA and created another person without my knowledge or consent. That's wrong, and I cannot support it."

Phantom had to fight not to snap out at the Kryptonian at this point. He didn't know?! Phantom understood this better than Superman ever could. The hafla stayed quiet about this, though. If he told Superman about Dani, then the entire League would know.

"Superboy can't help how he was created." Phantom argued. "To blame him for that is wrong."

Superman was silent.

"Just give him a chance." Phantom pleaded.

"I-" Superman's head whipped to the side. He was looking off to the Metropolis Bridge. "There's trouble."

In an instant, the Man of Steel was gone.

"…Damn…"

* * *

"Tensions continue to rise between the ghosts and the Justice League-"

"Amity Park has been attacked several times over the past couple of weeks. Reports indicate that most of the attacks were cause by what can be considered 'magical' foes to the Justice League-"

"What is it with that city!? A year ago, no one even heard of it. Now, it's the center of all the chaos happening in the world-"

"What exactly are they hiding-"

"Now I know what you're thinking. Good old G. Gordon has actually changed his mind…and you bet I have!" G. Gordon Godfrey spoke through Dani's phone. "It's only been a few months since the GIW started a full fledge war against the ghost, and the only ones that seem to want peace anymore are the ghosts!

"It was the ghosts that initiated a treaty talk. It was the ghosts that gave all the compromises. It was the ghosts that promised to abide by our rules, yet our so called leaders and protectors refuse to even listen to a simple warning from them. Am I the only one that sees the problem with that?!

"You all know that I was never a supporter of the ghosts. They appeared to be in the wrong at first, but actions speak louder than words! Their actions, especially Danny Phantom, have shown that they want peace. And for the sake of that peace, they have asked the UN and Justice League to move a dangerous artifact away from Amity Park and to guard it.

"That doesn't seem like a difficult request, right? Wrong! Both the UN and the Justice League have been acting like children in this matter! There have already been five attacks to Amity Park, and no action has been taken. Is Amity Park a separate nation or something? Because if not, then, why is it being treated like one?!"

Dani turned off her phone. "That's a good question…"

After leaving her home in anger, Dani made her way to the safest place in Amity Park besides her home. Fenton Works was armed to the tee and was relatively comfortable. Because Vlad knew that the rebuilt Fenton Works would rarely be used compared to their home, he merely added the essential furniture to each room.

Dani was currently in what was Danny's old…rebuilt…room. It now only had a bed and a desk, but Dani didn't care. She just needed a place to cool off.

"You shouldn't listen to that man." Fright Knight noted as he stood at the doorway. "I don't trust him."

"You've been listening to Danny too much. Not all reporters are bad." Dani shrugged. "Besides, he seems to be on our side."

"But for how long…" Fright Knight sighed.

Dani couldn't really complain about the Fright Knight's presence. This was where he was currently living after all. She was the guest here. "Hopefully long enough to get the mirror out of Amity Park."

"Yes. It needs to be moved. That much is true." Fright Knight agreed. "Freakshow, Wotan, and even Klarion all attacked already."

"I think that everyone agrees that it should be moved, the only question is where." Dani noted. "I feel bad for the Justice League, though. They're getting the bad press from this."

"They should be a little more trusting if they didn't want bad publicity." Fright Knight stated.

"But you and the other S-rank ghosts don't trust them. You're just acting like you do." Dani mentioned.

"Indeed…" Fright Knight nodded. "And that is why we have the good publicity. We can act."

Dani snorted at that. "Okay…By the way, was there something you wanted?"

"Ah…yes." Fright Knight nodded. "I figured you had enough time to cool off. What happened?"

"Nothing…" Dani mumbled. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Ah…" Fright Knight rubbed the back of his helm. "I see…You do not wish to speak of it."

"Yeah…" Dani sighed.

"Then I shall leave you be." Fright Knight stated and began to leave.

"Hey…" Dani stopped the knight.

"Yes?"

"How do you become strong?"

Fright Knight paused for a moment. "That is a difficult question to answer. It is different for different people. For people like my liege, battle and hardships make them stronger. Others go through rigorous training. And sometimes, people are just born with strength."

"Which one are you?" Dani questioned.

"A combination of the three." Fright Knight stated.

"And…which one am I?" Dani asked.

"…Hm…" Fright Knight crossed his arm in thought. "Well, you are related to my liege in blood. There is a good chance that you thrive in battle. You might become stronger through challenges."

"But how will I do that if I always have help." Dani frowned. "You even stated that you'll keep following me on patrols until I'm strong."

"You didn't notice?" Fright Knight chuckled as he walked out of the room. "I haven't followed you in your patrols since the mirror was discovered."

* * *

"Phantom!?" Superboy yelled when Phantom grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him invisible, and took off into the sky.

"Sup?" Phantom questioned.

"I should be the one asking you that!" Superboy snapped. "Let me go!"

"If I do that, then you won't talk to me." Phantom noted.

"And if you don't, I'll break your teeth out!"

"So that's how you want it…" Phantom quickly flew them to a nearby empty warehouse. "Fine then."

After he fazed them through the warehouse, Phantom dropped Superboy. The clone landed on his feet and glared at the ghost. "What the hell was that?!"

"I wanted to talk in private." Phantom explained as he lowered himself to the ground. "Standing on the Metropolis Bridge is kind of public."

"Why are you even here?" Superboy growled.

"I came to talk to Superman." Phantom said the truth. "But he blew me off when the bridge was collapsing."

"What! Why!?" Superboy was angry that Superman would talk to Phantom and not him.

"It was about you." Phantom shocked Superboy. "I was trying to get him to give you a chance."

"I don't need you to fix my problems!" Superboy exclaimed angrily. "It didn't work anyway…"

"Yeah," Phantom nodded. "I saw. That's why I decided to talk to you."

Superboy crossed his arms and glared away. "What? Are you going to tell me to keep my chin up and get over it?"

"Nope." Phantom shook his head. "I decided that I better calm you down before we meet at the Cave later."

"And what if I don't want to calm down!?" Superboy snarled. "What if I want to be angry and crush everything in my way!?"

"You can try, but that will be hard considering that I'm your first obstacle."

"You really want to fight me?" Superboy smirked. "I'm a juggernaut, and I already beat you once…and you had the help of the others."

"You had help too. This is one-on-one." Phantom slid into a stance. "Come on, let's see if you're so tough when I don't hold back."

"Hold back? Like you can actually hurt me!" Superboy lunged at the ghost.

Phantom knew that fighting Superboy with raw power would be stupid. Even if he was at full strength, Phantom's physical strength was still lower than Superboy's…not to mention his durability. No, he would have to fight smartly here. One hit could really hurt the halfa. But Phantom had a basic idea of how Superboy fought. Dodging the clone would be simple, especially with Phantom's plan.

"Woops…" Phantom turned intangible and allowed Superboy to go flying through him. "You missed…"

"Gah!" Superboy turned and threw a wild punch.

Phantom ducked under the punch with ease. "Too obvious, man."

Superboy snarled. He put his fists together and tried to hammer strike the halfa. Phantom dodged to the side, and the blow soared by him and crushed the concrete where Phantom once stood.

Phantom quickly noticed the opening Superboy gave him. The clone was completely off balance and unguarded. Raising a glowing green fist, the halfa punched the clone in the face. He put everything he had into it, and the force caused Superboy to go flying across the warehouse.

Superboy landed and slid across the ground. In a rage, Superboy quickly jumped to his feet. Phantom could see that his blow didn't really injure the clone all that much. He probably felt it, though.

With a roar, Superboy ran at Phantom. He sent several wild strikes at the halfa. Phantom merely danced around the various attacks. None of the blows even came close to hitting the ghost.

"RAW!"

"Slow."

"ROAR!"

"Nope. Not even close."

"AH!"

"Oh! So close…"

"Stop moving!" Superboy glared as he pulled back for another punch.

"Ok."

Suddenly, Superboy slipped. In his rage, the clone didn't notice as Phantom froze the ground beneath them. The clone tumbled forward into Phantom's waiting kick. Superboy landed with a thud on his back.

Before the clone could get up, Phantom stepped on his chest. A broadsword made of ice was pressed against Superboy's throat. He could feel frost forming on his skin.

"You lose." Phantom stated simply.

"That won't hurt me." Superboy growled. He tried to get up, but his limbs were now frozen to the ground.

"Maybe not, but there are plenty of things that can." Phantom noted. "If this was a magic blade, you would be dead."

"Yeah, 'if.' But it's not." The ice cracked under Superboy's power.

"We don't have the privilege of ignoring possibilities. If you want to follow this path, you need to prepare for any situation." Phantom stated.

"My powers will crush anything in my way!" Superboy yelled. The ice shattered. Phantom flew back to avoid Superboy's punch.

"Oh, really?" Phantom questioned. "I have a lot of powers, and I can tell you from experience that they won't always save you. Sometimes, you just fight a mismatched enemy for you. And in those instances, you can't lose your cool. Letting your anger take control will get you or others killed."

"What?! So your telling me how to feel now?!" Superboy yelled.

"No." Phantom shook his head. "I can't tell you how to feel. In fact, for a long time, I had similar feelings about the world. The anger doesn't go away easily, and I know that people telling me about my anger never made it leave any faster."

"Then what do you want?!"

"I want you to use that anger." Phantom stated. "Control it, instead of letting it control you. That's the reason I wanted to fight you. I knew that you would lose control at the drop of a hat, because I used to."

Superboy was silent.

"And look at what happened." Phantom noted. "You had a huge boost in power and intensity, but you got sloppy. You left yourself open. Then, all I had to do was some tricks, and I took you down with ease. If I were someone else, I would have killed you."

Superboy looked away ashamed. He hated feeling weak.

"No emotion is inherently evil. Fear, desperation, and even anger…they aren't evil. Emotions are just information, and information is in itself powerful. Don't use them in the wrong way." Phantom explained. "If you do, you might accidentally hurt someone that's innocent, and trust me, that is not something you want to happen."

Superboy frowned. "Why?"

"Why, what?" Phantom questioned. "I think it's kind of obvious why you don't want to hurt someone innocent..."

"Why do you care?" Superboy looked up. "No one else would go this far. And don't give some, 'I'm your leader bull crap'."

"…" Phantom took a minute to think. "If I tell you the truth, will you tell anyone else?"

"…" Superboy met the ghost's gaze. "No."

Phantom didn't know whether he should be revealing this information, but he felt that Superboy had the right to know. "You know about Spirit, right? My partner from Amity Park."

"Yeah…"

"Most people think that she's my cousin, but she's more than that. She's like a sister to me, but actually, she's genetically my daughter." Phantom explained.

Superboy's eyes widened.

"She's my clone." Phantom further explained. "That's why I came here in the first place. I, above everyone else, know what this situation's like for Superman. Unlike him, though, I almost instantly accepted D…Spirit."

"And what makes her different!" Superboy was obviously upset by this knowledge.

"I was completely alone when she came along. I had no family or friends to turn to. I looked at her, and…I saw Spirit's genetic mother too. I saw part of the girl I once loved, and I couldn't hate her. I couldn't turn her away." Phantom stated. "Superman…is much more stable than I'll ever be. But more stable means less open to change, grey areas, and unusual circumstances…like clones."

Superboy nodded. "I see. You're just a weirdo."

"…Ok…" Phantom didn't know whether or not to be insulted.

"Then, what do I do about Superman?" Superboy questioned.

"Show him that he's wrong. Show him that you're good, and that he's a fool for turning you away." Phantom state. "Either that or stop caring, but you don't seem like that type of person."

Superboy nodded slowly. "Okay…and thanks."

"No problem." Phantom smiled. "Oh, and one more thing."

"What?"

"Anger might not be evil, but I can tell you this. There isn't a moment that anger will ever bring you happiness."

* * *

Dani had to admit, it was nice to just relax at times. The quietness of Fenton Works was a nice change of pace compared to the loud city and chaos at home. Here, Dani had time and peace to think. It was nice…

Until she got bored that is. Unfortunately, the Fright Knight refused to allow her to break anything, so she had to find another way to quell her boredom. Her normal way would be training, but Fenton Works lacked the room necessary for her destructive training.

Not to mention all the delicate equipment…

Dani looked up from her paper. The lab of Fenton works was filled with half-finished machines, weapons, and armor. There was a small open space, though. In the space sat the Fright Knight. He appeared to be meditating.

Apparently, that was how he relaxed. He had noted that everyone had different ways to relax and recharge after hard times. Mediation, reading, inventing (guess whose pastime that was) were all different forms of relaxation.

According to the Fright Knight, such things were necessary. If warriors didn't have such recreations, they would go insane. Everyone needs a break from time to time.

Dani decided that she might want to try distracting herself. She ran into some trouble, however. Mediation was too quiet. Reading was boring. And those machines…Yep, she couldn't do that.

So, Dani decided to take just doodle. It was a simple pastime to do, and drawing the people she knew in various ways was really funny.

Eventually, Dani grew bored of this, though, and began to sketch the room. There was a lot of things to sketch in the room. Dani's favorite so far was the Fright Knight. His armor was extremely detailed and sharp.

Besides this, Dani was extremely interested in one particular item in the room. The halfa girl had heard stories about this particular weapon. Danny apparently wore that battle suit a lot before the GIW War.

The Red X suit…

Dani stared at the black cylinder which contained the suit. It had a space of its own. The halfa girl had a feeling that Danny had spent quite a bit of time staring at the cylinder as well. Dani knew of his exploits in the suit, and knew how it affected him.

While in that suit, he was a mercenary. He was brutal and ruthless. If anyone got in his way, Red X would crush them. And that scared Danny. So, he kept it here. There was a good chance that he wanted to destroy it, but he knew that it might be needed later.

So, the suit stayed…

"Friend!" Wulf flew into the basement lab. He seemed to be in hysterics.

"Wulf?" Dani eyed the fur covered ghost. "What's up?"

Wulf was so agitated that he couldn't speak English correctly. He was rapidly yelling in Esperanto. Dani couldn't understand a word of it, though. Unlike Danny, Dani had never learned the native language of their friend.

"Woah! Slow down." Dani put her sketch pad down. "I don't know what you're saying."

"Smell is off!" Wulf barked out. "Enemies! Necromancers!"

"What!?" Fright Knight jumped to his feet. "You sense those infernal killing machines!?"

"Si!" Wulf nodded vigorously.

Dani remembered the Necromancers. Originally designed and later hidden by the Fentons, the Necromancers were the perfect ghost killing machines. One Necromancer had the power to defeat dozens of ghosts with ease. The halfa girl still remembered when the first Necromancer they encountered had killed Klemper. It was a dark day for the Phantom Family…

Their ectoranium armor and powerful attacks made the fight difficult or near impossible if a regular ghost got caught unprepared. Not to say that a Necromancer was unbeatable to ghosts. With the right amount of strategy or raw power, a Necromancer could be defeated, but unless the ghost was S-rank, there wasn't that good of a chance for victory.

"Where are they?" Dani asked.

"Don't know…too many smells…ghosts and humans…" Wulf tried to communicate.

"Vision's servants must be distorting his senses…" Fright Knight growled. "The extra protection has hurt us…"

"We need everyone on alert then." Dani noted. They should probably call Danny too… "Do we have enough people for this? I mean, tons of Vision's servants are here. Then there's you, Cujo, Wulf, me, Dad…"

"…" Fright Knight paused for a moment. "We should alert Lord Phantom, but tell him that the situation is still under control for now. No need to worry him without a situation that needs his intervention."

"Right! Let's do this! I'm going ghost!"

* * *

**Recognized: Danny Phantom B04, Superboy B05**

"Hey, Superboy." Miss Martian smiled at the clone. "How was Metropolis?"

"Mixed…" Superboy shrugged at the Martian.

"Hey, people!" Phantom walked into the center of the cave. "Air Hockey, huh?"

"You any good?" Kid Flash questioned.

"Nope."

"Good. I'll play you next."

Unfortunately, they never got to play. Black Canary and Martian Manhunter arrived for their training. The green alien greeted and hugged his niece. Phantom thought it was nice that they had such a good relationship, but quickly remembered Superboy and placed a hand on the clone's shoulder. Superboy nodded at the ghost in understanding. He understood the message.

"Alright, class is in session." Black Canary stepped out into the now glowing circle and began to remove her leather jacket. "I consider it an honor to be your teacher. I'll throw a lot at you. Everything I've learned from my own mentor-guh…and my own bruises."

"What happened?" Miss Martian questioned worriedly.

Phantom playfully elbowed the green girl. "Experience. Next time, she'll duck. Trust me, the bigger the bruise, the quicker you learn."

"Very true." Black Canary nodded. "Combat is about controlling the conflict. Putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting. I'll need a sparing partner."

"Nose goes." Phantom quickly placed his finger on his nose. Most of the other members of Young Justice quickly copied their leader, but Kid Flash didn't. He seemed to want to get in the ring with Black Canary.

Poor sap…

Five seconds later, Kid Flash was on the floor groaning. "Oh…It hurts so good…"

"Hahahahahaha!" Phantom ended his video and put his phone away. "Can't put that on Youtube, but this will bring me joy for years to come."

"Can I get a copy?" Robin questioned.

"Yep."

"You guys suck!" Kid Flash commented as Black Canary pulled him up.

"Good try, but did anyone see what he did wrong?" Black Canary questioned.

"He hit on teacher and got served?" Robing suggested.

"He got in the ring with you?" That was Phantom.

"His eyes weren't they should have been?" Even Aqualad made a comment.

"Et tu, Kaldur?" Kid Flash threw him a betrayed look.

Kaldur shrugged as if to say, 'When in Rome…'

"He allowed me to dictate the terms of the fight." Black Canary explained. "He let me attack first, and it was his downfall."

"Literally…" Superboy mumbled.

"Anyone else up for the challenge?" Black Canary questioned.

Silence.

"Meh…" Phantom shrugged off his trench coat. He did not want that to get ripped…again…for the hundredth time… "I'm going to regret this."

"Get you're phones out." Robin joked.

"Be careful, Phantom!" Miss Martian called.

"Don't die." Superboy smirked.

"I hope you get your ass kicked, you jerk." Kid Flash muttered.

"Love you too, Wally."

"Okay, then." Black Canary smirked. "Ready?"

"No."

"Too bad." Black Canary lunged forward.

On instinct, Phantom circled to the side. He tried to roundhouse kick the heroine, but merely hit air. Black Canary had jumped into the air. She tried to kick Phantom, but Phantom rolled back. At least he managed to avoid getting hit…

Phantom got to his feet, and readied himself. He was just in time to get punched in the face and kneed in the gut. Black Canary then grabbed his arm, twisted it, and put him in an armbar.

"Can you get out?" Black Canary questioned.

"Gah…not without using my powers…" Phantom tapped out.

"Okay…" Black Canary let him up. "That was pretty good, but you still retreated too much."

"It's hard not to instinctively use my powers…" Phantom admitted. He had trained for hours to get to the point where he instinctively used his powers. Now, it was hurting him…Oh, well, he needed to be ready in case he couldn't use his powers.

"And that's why we're training-"

"Batman to the Cave." Batman's face appeared on a hologram. "Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying, then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant."

"Woah… One guy with the powers of the entire League." Kid Flash muttered.

Phantom frowned. He did not like the sound of this…

"In the end, it took eight Leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android." Batman further explained.

"Android…" Phantom muttered. Not a lot of people could make that kind of tech. Even fewer could make one this powerful. If he remember correctly, there was only two people that could make something like that, but…

"Is it TO Morrow?" Robin interjected.

"That thing doesn't look, act, or sound like TO Morrow's work." Phantom gained everyone's attention. "No color scheme, it copies other people's powers, and it has no elemental theme. Not to mention the plating is all wrong."

"How can you tell?" Miss Martian questioned.

"…I like to know what can hurt me." That was not a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. Danny Fenton had studied TO Morrow's work while improving the Fenton Exoskeleton and creating the Red X suit. Who knew it would come in handy later? "But if it's not TO Morrow, then it could only be Professor Ivo."

"Or it could be that Fenton Kid from your home town." Kid Flash smirked. "Have you seen the stuff he makes? It's insane."

"Besides the dumb household crap you mean…" Superboy rolled his eyes.

Phantom forced himself to stay quiet.

"Doubtful." Martian Manhunter noted. "Phantom is right. It has the insignia of Professor Ivo."

"But Ivo's dead…" Kaldur noted.

"So we all thought…or hoped." Black Canary looked back at the Atlantian.

"To make certain that this threat is permanently neutralized. We're sending two trucks carrying the androids parts to two separate Star Labs in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation. Every precaution is being taken." Batman explained. "We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo or anyone tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard to two real trucks."

"Yes!" Kid Flash cheered. "Road trip."

"Hmm…" Phantom frowned. "This is bad timing. There's a possible crisis back in Amity Park. Spirit texted me a while ago about possible Necromancers."

"Those androids that were used to kill ghosts?" Kaldur frowned. "Is this related?"

"Possibly…" Phantom admitted. "But if it is Ivo, I don't see how. A scientist isn't the type to try and steal a well-protected mythical item."

"Either way, both sides need to be protected." Batman admitted. "Is your presence immediately required in Amity Park?"

"As of right now, no…" Phantom noted.

"Then I will put the choice in your hands." Batman stated. "Decide which situation needs you more."

Phantom nodded. "The coordinates have been received…I'll deal with this first. Then, I can head over to Amity Park. Okay, let's move."

As Young Justice moved out, Phantom hoped that he made the right choice. He had a feeling that if he didn't go with the team, it would end badly, but Amity…

Well, it had a small army there. Not to mention the other S-rank ghosts were on call. Even if there were Necromancers, the situation would be handled quickly…

Dear Lord, he hoped it would be handled quickly.

* * *

"Are you sure they're here. This is pretty far away from the museum." Spirit noted. They had searched until Wulf found a trail and led them here.

"Si." Wulf pointed down into Casper High School. "It here."

"Why here, though…" Fright Knight wondered. "It's not strategically positioned at all…It must be for subtlety and isolation. Some teachers and custodians will be here, but if the enemy is careful enough, then it's the perfect hiding spot."

"You should go tell Dad and Vision." Spirit commented to the Fright Knight. "They will want to know."

"You want me to leave you here?" Fright Knight questioned.

"Look, you're the fastest." Spirit stated. "You can get them here faster than we can."

Fright Knight nodded slowly. "Fine, but remain hidden."

"Roger Dogger."

When the knight ghost was gone, Spirit turned to Wulf and Cujo. "I'm going in."

"But…remain hidden…" Wulf noted.

"I won't get caught." Spirit rolled her eyes. "You two keep watch."

"No like this…" Wulf muttered. "Should call Friend Phantom."

"No." Spirit quickly said. "Er…I mean, he's busy right now. Plus, we can handle this."

Wulf muttered to himself but said no more. Cujo eyed his owner. He obviously didn't want her to in either, but he would obey his master.

"Good boy…" Spirit patted Cujo's head. "Both of you."

Wulf snorted.

"I'm off…" Spirit turned invisible and passed through the ceiling of Casper High. This place was usually a hot spot for ghosts…before the war, at least. This summer, however, it had been dead quiet. No one had thought too much of it because it was summer.

Spirit quickly made her way through the halls of Casper High. She remembered all the chases and fights that occurred here. They seemed like such a long time ago…

Suddenly, Spirit heard a noise. It was the shuffling of feet. Someone was in the gymnasium. Of course, that's where they had to be…

The halfa girl silently made her way into the gym. She was shocked by the sight. The room was occupied with several…ninja. Not any tupe of ninja, though. Spirit recognized these guys.

They belonged to the League of Shadows…

Spirit let out a silent gasp as her ghost sense went off. 'Oh no…'

"Shiva!" Walker stormed into the room. He was addressing a beautiful woman with long black hair. Even with her large trench coat, Shiva's hourglass figure could be seen. Not only this, Spirit could practically feel the danger rolling off the woman. This woman was not to be messed with…

'Shiva…Where have I heard that name?' Spirit thought to herself. She had never seen this woman before, but that name struck a chord. Did Danny mention here before?

"Walker…" Shiva glared at the ex-warden. "What do you want?"

"Why are we using those infernal machines?!" Walker pointed to three large crates. "I may hate the Phantom family, but I refuse to use this filth. Hundreds of rule abiding ghosts were killed by those Necromancers."

'Wulf was right…' Spirit realized.

"They are useful weapons." Shiva noted. "And I refuse to underestimate anyone from this city again. Both Fenton and Phantom have made a fool of me before, and I refuse to let it happen again."

"Fenton won't fight." Walker stated. Spirit then realized that Walker had not informed anyone of Danny's secret. It made sense. There was an unspoken rule about revealing a ghost's secrets to the humans. "And I can handle Phantom."

"Doubtful." Shiva noted. "You had Jinx's help, and you couldn't defeat Phantom."

"That was because Jinx kept getting in my way." Walker snarled. "But I can defeat Phantom now…"

"You will have your chance." Shiva stated. "We will begin our assault soon enough. Soon the mirror will be ours."

"What mirror?"

"The Mirror of Memories! Haven't you been…Cassandra! What are you doing here!?" Shiva yelled at the girl standing next to you.

"I wanted to see Amity Park." Cassandra answered. She was a girl about Dani's age. She had short dark hair and appeared to be of some Asian descent like the woman she was talking to. "So I hid in one of the crates."

"…I taught you too well…" Shiva sighed. She then glared at the ninja. "How did you miss her?!"

All the ninja cowered in fear.

"To be fair, my size makes hiding easy." Cassandra noted.

"That does not give them an excuse!" Shiva glared.

"Forgive us, Lady Shiva…" The ninja bowed.

"So your daughter's here…Will this affect the plan?" Walker questioned.

"No. She will remain here." Shiva eyed her daughter. "While we get the mirror."

"With the Necromancers…" Walker looked displeased.

"If you have a problem with it, speak to the Master." Shiva stated.

Walker obviously didn't want to do that. "Fine, but I still don't think those things will help us."

"And I believe they will." Shiva left no room for argument. "If you didn't want to be my subordinate, you should have worked with Jinx."

"A choice between working with machines meant to kill me, or a witch that uses bad luck." Walker frowned. "Both sound so appealing…"

"You knew what you signed up for." Shiva glared.

"Mother." Cassandra looked up at the older woman. "Will you fight Danny Phantom?"

"Most likely…" Shiva glanced at the girl. "Why?"

"No reason…"

"Bazinga!"

Everyone in the room froze. Shiva looked around. "What was that?"

'Oh nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!' Spirit groaned mentally as she floated above the gym. That was her phone. She forgot to put in on silent. Curse that funny ringtone! If she wasn't in mortal danger, she would be both angry and amused.

"I don't know…" Walker observed his surroundings.

"It sounded like a phone." Cassandra noted. "More specifically a Big Bang ringtone."

'Please don't go off again. Please don't go off again. Please don't go off again.' Spirit chanted in her head as she reached for her phone to turn it off.

"Bazinga!"

'DANG IT!' Spirit mentally cried.

"Yes, that was definitely a phone." Shiva eyed the other ninja. "Was that you?"

They all shook their heads.

'Don't look up! Don't look up! Don't look up!' Spirit mentally chanted after she turned off her phone.

They all looked up.

'Come on! Nothing's going my way today!'

* * *

Phantom looked down at his disguise. Like the others, he had forsaken his combat clothes and was wearing a disguise as a biker. At least his clothes fit his usual color scheme of black and white…

The halfa had divided his team in half to follow the trucks. He, Superboy, and Kid Flash would follow one truck, while Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Robin would follow the other. This way, no stupid hormones would get in the way at least…for now.

"They're about to pack up." Phantom noted to his team.

"About time." Kid Flash smirked. "I'm ready for this!"

"Stay focused, Kid. We are transporting dangerous cargo." Aqualad stated.

"That's pretty cool if you think about it, though." Robin remarked. "The League is trusting us with something this dangerous."

"It's kind of scary…" Miss Martian mumbled.

"Don't worry." Phantom encouraged the only girl in Young Justice. "This will go smoothly…I hope…But some info would be nice. Hey, SB, can you hear what the League is talking about?"

Superboy paused. "The android…danger…ghosts…mirror…You mentioned that back at the Cave, right? Is that the thing the news is going on about?"

"Yeah…" Phantom nodded. So the League was discussing this now…or at least some of them were. "What about it are they talking about?"

"The name…Vision…is coming up a lot." Superboy noted.

"Hmm…" Phantom nodded. "Oh, well. We should focus on the task at hand."

Yes, focus now, then worry about the mirror. Right now, he had to deal with this…Amazo. If this thing was assembled and managed to get the powers of more people…it could be unbeatable. Phantom couldn't even fathom what would happen if it a copied the powers of some of the ghosts he knew.

Phantom felt a shutter roll down his spine. He couldn't beat this thing. Even if the entire Young Justice team were to fight together…it might not be enough. No, this thing had to be stopped before it could even begin…

Yes…that's what Vlad taught him…

* * *

_Memory sequence begin_

"_Check." Vlad moved his knight in front of Danny's king._

"_Dang…" Danny sighed. "How does that always happen?"_

"_You are far too predictable, Daniel." Vlad chuckled. "Your method is all offence and no defense."_

"_Yeah, well it's just a game…" Danny muttered._

"_Is it?" Vlad raised an eyebrow. "Chess is often compared to real battle. Strategy is the key, and your strategy sucks."_

"_I'm better in the spur of the moment." Phantom argued. "In a real fight, I'm pretty good at getting my opponents in the right situation for me."_

"_Yes, you have a talent for quick thinking during a battle, but your prep strategy is terrible at times." Vlad noted. "For example, when you first fought Torch, you never scoped out the battle field before the fight even though you had time."_

"_I didn't know that I would get in a fight…" Phantom moved one of his pieces._

"_When escaping from the Shadows, you tried to just tried to plow your way through the base. If Klemper hadn't saved you, you would have been captured." Vlad moved his queen._

"_Hey! I managed to send out a distress signal at least. I was just trying to buy time for you guys to save me." Phantom frowned._

"_Don't even get me started about what happened in Gotham…" Vlad rolled his eyes. "You acted like a total brute. You're assault on the GIW base there worked, but now everyone wants a piece of 'Red X'."_

"_I didn't exactly have a lot of time or resources on my hands…" Phantom saw that Vlad's king was vulnerable and moved his pawn. "Check."_

"_And let's not forget your contribution to Vision's plan for the GIW War. If involved you most likely dying." Vlad moved one of his own pawns. "Checkmate."_

"_What?!" Danny's eyes widened._

"_You're problem is that you only look at the situation from one perspective." Vlad pointed at the board. "I pictured what you would do in a situation, and manipulated you to do it without any effort on my part."_

"_I do that in a fight…" Danny mentioned._

"_But that's the problem. You don't always have to fight." Vlad stated. "Sometimes, the best victories are the ones that you don't have to fight for."_

"_Cheating you mean…" Danny muttered._

"_Cheating? Is it cheating to use your advantages? Is it cheating to trick others into defeating themselves? Is it cheating to win by default?"_

"_No..." Danny admitted._

"_That's right." Vlad nodded. "So, next time, put yourself in my shoes. What would I do? How would I do it? What can you do to stop me before I even get the chance to act."_

"…_You would get me to fall into a trap. You would do that by appearing weak. And I can stop that by doing the exact same thing." Danny noted._

"_Exactly." Vlad stated. "Despite what anyone says, human behavior, for the most part, is rather predictable. All you need to do is put yourself in their perspective."_

* * *

Okay…With this situation, he has the opportunity to act before the mission could begin. Batman had set up a lot defenses for the android parts, but a lot of that protection was Young Justice. If they failed to protect the android parts…It would not end well.

If the inventor of Amazo really was Ivo, then the inventor would definitely come for the parts. Danny was an inventor himself. If his toys were taken, he'd be mad. He would definitely try to get the parts back.

There was almost a 100% chance that Ivo would track down the parts, because Danny would definitely put a tracker in them somehow. That means that Young Justice would definitely be attacked. The only question was by what?

He had to protect the parts, but with the team separating, it would be difficult. If they were distracted long enough, then the parts would be stolen. There was a pretty good chance that there would be a lot of attackers too…Batman must know that, but he's trusting Young Justice.

So, Phantom had to be smart about this. There was a good chance that Ivo would get the parts back…to him…Directly to him…

Phantom smirked. Oh…That's good. That's really good.

* * *

"Run!" Spirit grabbed Cujo and Wulf and began to drag them away from the school. "Run! Run! Run!"

"Why?" Wulf questioned as he and Cujo flew after the girl.

Suddenly, a blast of ectoplasmic energy zoomed by them. Then came a second and a third. In a few short seconds, they were dodging barrages of ectoplasmic bullets.

"That's why!" Spirit shouted.

"Said would stay hidden!" Wulf growled.

"I'm sorry! I blame Harriet! She just had to text me!" Spirit argued. She noticed the bullets stopped. They must be out of range.

"ROOF!" Cujo stopped and turned.

"Cujo, we can't stop. They may not be able to fly, but…" Spirit saw what Cujo had noticed. "Walker…"

"If it isn't the little punk." Walker glared. "And the dumb dog and old prisoner. I see you found us."

"Yeah, but I never thought that the Shadows would have the balls to attack this place again." Spirit noted.

"Yes…" Walker nodded. "I did not believe that this was a good idea at this point, but the others were persistent."

"Then you shouldn't have joined them." Spirit stated. "Now, you have the entire Ghost Zone as an enemy. That includes Vision, Frostbite, Pandora…"

"I know that." Walker glared. "But it will be worth it in the end."

"End is now!" Wulf glared at his previous warden.

"He's right." Spirit nodded. "You can't win against the three of us."

"It's not just me…" Walker frowned and pointed behind him. Three Necromancers were quickly approaching. They were large nine foot tall androids. Their heads were smooth and round. They had no nose, mouth or ears, but they had glowing red eyes. Each one was covered in thick ectoranium armor, but unlike the Guys in White versions, they were painted black and grey. "I have those things to take you out."

"Crap..." Necromancers weren't good at fighting in groups, but if Walker separated the three ghosts, then it wouldn't be much of a fight.

It was then that Spirit gasped out blue smoke.

The girl smirked. "Uh oh…"

"Don't smirk at me girl." Walker growled. "You may not be Phantom, but I will still take great joy in killing you."

"You won't get the chance, though." Spirit noted. "You will have to deal with them first."

"Who.." Walker froze.

Behind Spirit appeared a small army of ghosts. They were the servants that Vision placed here to guard the mirror. At the front of the small army was Vision, Plasmius, and the Fright Knight.

"Walker." Vision eyed the ghost. "It's a pleasure. If you give up now, I won't kill you."

"…I think you have bigger troubles…" Walker pointed down below. The ninjas of the League of Shadows were all running to the museum.

"Stop them!" Plasmius ordered Vision's servants. "Protect the mirror!"

"Who said you could order around my servants?" Vision questioned.

"I figured it was implied after our last date." Plasmius shrugged.

Spirit had to fight off a gag.

"It's fine for now, but we'll talk about that later. Now…" Purple energy flared around Vision. "There are some trash cans that need smashed.

"Agreed." Fright Knight unsheathed his sword. "It is time for battle."

"Alright!" Spirit smirked. "About time!"

* * *

Phantom groaned a he pealed himself out of the dented truck. "Well that didn't go well…"

Like he thought, the truck was attacked. The halfa had anticipated that. It was the robot monkeys that threw him off. They were definitely Ivo's things, but they were incredibly annoying.

Trying to protect the cargo while fighting off hordes of monkey was incredibly difficult. The robot monkeys scrambled around and confused them. Phantom managed to destroy a large portion of the monkeys with the help of Kid Flash and Superboy.

In fact, for a while, Phantom thought they would be successful in protecting the cargo. He managed to get Superboy and Kid Flash to work fairly well together. The speedster protected the tires while Superboy protected the top. Phantom was in charge of the sides. For a while it went well…

Until Phantom's powers stopped working.

Suddenly, in the middle of the fight, Phantom could no longer call on his ghost ray. He felt gravity overtake his body. In an instant, he was weak.

At that second, Phantom realized that he had exhausted himself by fighting Superboy and Black Canary consecutively after weeks of mentally draining stress…

"Damn!" He shouted.

That was when the robots struck. They surrounded the halfa and blasted him from all sides. The rest was a blur for the halfa. He remembered the monkeys overwhelming them and getting into the truck.

After freeing himself from the dented truck, Phantom watched as the monkeys flew off. If he focused enough, he might be able to follow them, but he would be in no position to fight off the monkeys…

Oh well, he had time.

"We have to go after them!" Kid Flash urged.

"I'm on it!" Superboy was about to jump after them.

"Wait." This caused Superboy to freeze instantly. Phantom was glad that he was listening to him.

"Kaldur, how's your end?" Phantom questioned into the radio.

"_Unfortunatley, we failed…"_ Aqualad noted.

"_We should have had them!"_ Robin ranted.

"_We can still stop them._" Miss Martian reasoned.

"Stop them from what?" Phantom questioned.

"Reconstructing the android, bro!" Kid Flash yelled.

"Oh, that." Phantom reached into his pocket. He pulled out a Portable Fenton Crammer, a machine that shrinks items for storage. He then opened the metal box and pulled out its contents. "I don't think that will do anything without this."

"…That's Amazo's head…" Superboy stared.

"Yep."

"_Why do you have it?"_ Miss Martian questioned.

"I took it for insurance case in case we failed." Phantom answered. "Thinking from Ivo's perspective, he would have some way to track them, so I came up with Plan B."

"_When did you take it?_" Kaldur questioned.

"While we were waiting." Phantom answered. "My Fenton Crammer jams signals, so the head didn't send off a signal."

"_Hahahahahaha!_" Robin laughed. _"That is awesome! Ivo definitely won't be feeling the aster after he finds out." _

"Not only that…" Wally smirked. "We can track Ivo because of the parts he stole."

"Yep." Phantom smirked. "He'll lead us right to him."

"Hehe…" Superboy laughed lightly. "Now that's funny."

* * *

Spirit had to wonder how she got into this situation. At the beginning of the fight, she though that she would be fighting Walker or one of the Necromancers, but that was not how things went. The halfa girl had started out fighting in the air, but she was quickly grounded. Someone had dragged her down using an ectoplasmic grapple…

"What do you want?" Spirit questioned after freeing herself. "Shouldn't you be going after the mirror?"

"The others can handle that." Lady Shiva noted as she put the grapple away. "I, however, need to keep the attention here."

"My attention?" Spirit raised an eyebrow. Why here when there were three incredibly powerful ghosts not far from them. "I'm not exactly the heavy hitter here."

"Perhaps not, but you and your partner have always been the wildcards." Shiva noted as she paced around the ghost girl. "Your influence has always been the deciding factor between victory and defeat."

Spirit clenched her fists. "That's not what this is about. I can sense your intentions. Your goal isn't to defeat me."

"…Perhaps not." Shiva admitted. "Perhaps I want to use this opportunity for a little bit of personal revenge too. If I fight you, and make it look like I will kill you, then Phantom will come. I have studied his patterns, his habits, and his sense of morality…If you are in trouble, he will come. He will fight me, and this time, I will win."

"Tsk!" Spirit rolled her eyes. "Humans are so arrogant. Think just because I'm young that means I can't at least hold my own against an unprepared human? Wrong! You may be some hardcore assassin, but I have faced far worse odds than this and survived."

"Yes, but that was because you had help. You are alone now, child…" Shiva lifted up her arms. They were covered in a thin gauntlet. It was then that the gauntlets and the woman's boots began to glow green. "Can you survive without help?"

"Okay, lady. You want it like that…" Spirit glared. The woman had struck a cord. She was bringing out the feelings that Spirit had been feeling for weeks. It was the feelings on inadequacies. "You got it, but you better be prepared, because I won't hold back."

* * *

"Gah! Stupid brats! Unhand me!" Ivo cried as Superboy held him down. The inventor was an aging redhead man. His short and small stature made him appear nonthreatening, but Phantom knew from experience that looks were deceiving.

"Um, let me think about that for a second." Kid Flash smirked. "NO!"

"Yeah, Ivo, we've got a nice comfy prison cell waiting just for you." Robin noted as he placed cuffs on the inventor. "Don't want to keep it waiting, do ya?"

"I'll pass…" Ivo grumbled. "Stupid monkeys, if only they got the head…"

"That's what you get for relying on monkeys." Superboy noted. "It came back to bite you in the butt."

Young Justice had quickly tracked Ivo down. After the inventor learned that Amazo's head was missing, he ditched the android parts and tried to run. He fled into Gotham's underbelly, and might have gotten away…

If it weren't for the trail of monkeys impaled by arrows…

"Oh! I wish we had a dog!" M'gann noted.

"…Excuse me?" Kaldur stared at the Martian.

"You know, so he could say, 'I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids and your stupid dog'." M'gann stated.

"Now that would be awesome." Robin smirked.

"He can still say the first part." Kid Flash eyed the inventor.

"I will not degrade myself to quoting a childish cartoon." Ivo frowned as Superboy lugged him over his shoulder.

"Your loss." Superboy stated.

"Phantom?" Aqualad looked over at their leader. He was examining the arrows that came from the monkeys.

"Huh?" Phantom looked up.

"Dude, is that GA's arrow?" Kid Flash questioned.

"That's so lame! They still don't trust us!" Robin ranted.

"No…" Phantom shook his head. "I've seen GA's arrows, and these aren't GA's arrows."

"That means…"

"Speedy." Kaldur smiled.

"Alright! He's got our backs!" Kid Flash cheered. He grabbed the arrow and added. "Souvenir!"

This time, Phantom did not argue. He knew who the arrows belonged to, because he created those arrows. There was no way these belonged to Speedy, but they did belong to another person that was good with a bow…

Bzz! Bzz! Bzz!

Phantom reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. He saw the message and scowled. "Crap…"

"What is it?" Miss Martian questioned.

"An emergency." Phantom stated. "Robin, I need to get to Amity Park now."

Robin nodded in understanding. He eyed Ivo as he said, "Okay, I'll take you to the…station."

"Superboy and Aqualad, guard Ivo. Miss Martian and Kid, guard Amazo's parts until the League shows up." Phantom ordered. "Batman will be here soon. Something tells me that this isn't our mission anymore."

* * *

(Play: Sick of It by Skillet)

Spirit had to say…Lady Shiva was perhaps one of the most dangerous enemies she had ever faced. The woman was skilled, armed, and deadly. The halfa girl instinctively knew that fighting this woman up close would be stupid, so Spirit tried to keep her distance…

Key word is tried…

"Hiah!" Shiva sent a roundhouse kick at Spirit's head. The halfa girl quickly ducked under the kick. It soared past her head at break neck speeds.

After the kick had passed over her, Spirit tried to blast Shiva away with a blast of ectoplasm. The blast did not hit Shiva, however. Instead, the blast soared past the assassin as she skillfully dodged the devastating blast. In a motion that was elegant as dancing, Shiva spun and sent a spinning back fist at the halfa.

Spirit did not have enough time to totally react to her Premonition screaming at her. The blow hit Spirit in the head. Despite this, Spirit managed to lessen a lot of the blow by flying backwards. Nevertheless, the halfa girl felt her head rattle from the blow.

Now free from Shiva, Spirit tried to distant herself from the assassin. She tried to fly up into the sky. Thinking logically, this strategy would work. Shiva's hand-to-hand combat skills would be useless in a far ranged battle. Unfortunately, Shiva knew this, and prevented it from happening.

With speed that Spirit could barely consider human, Shiva lunged at the halfa. The assassin grabbed Spirit's coat and dragged the halfa down. Spirit tried to fight the assassin off, but the assassin threw her to the ground faster than she could react.

('Raise leg into air. Axe kick the girl. Break bones.')

Spirit heard her Premonition loud and clear. She rolled out of the way just as Shiva's glowing green heel was about to hit her. The assassin's kick hit the concrete and caused cracks to appear.

('Follow through. Lunge. Right cross. Left hook. Spinning roundhouse. Finish with knee to face.')

Focusing as quickly as possible, Spirit used every bit of grace and speed she had as she tried to dodge the blows. She danced around the assassin's devastating blows in a blur. Finally, after the final strike, Spirit tried to follow through with an attack.

She sent a kick at Shiva. Unfortunately, Shiva caught the kick. Spirit tried to turn intangible, but Shiva's ectoplasmic gauntlets held Spirit in physical form. It was then that Shiva went in for the finish. She flipped Spirit and got the halfa into an arm bar lock.

"AH!" Spirit cried as she felt her arm bending in the wrong way.

"Apologies. I take no pleasure in harming a child." Shiva stated. "But I have a mission…and a matter of pride to deal with. If only Phantom got here sooner."

"No!" Spirit struggled and fought, but could not get out of the arm bar. In desperation, she swept her arm around. She tried to focus ectoplasm into her hands, but could only manage a small amount. It wasn't near enough to send out a blast…

"Ah!" Shiva cried as Spirit reached around and brushed her fingers against her shoulder. A decent sized gash appeared on the assassin's shoulders. In surprise, the assassin released some of the tension in the lock. It was only a small difference, but that was all Spirit needed, though.

Spirit desperately pulled her aching arm away from Shiva. Rolling away, Spirit tried to take a moment to compose herself. Luckily, Shiva allowed it.

"That's what I get…" Shiva scowled. "I underestimate another ghost hero and it comes back to bite me…"

Spirit eyed Shiva's wound. It wasn't terribly deep, but there was a decent amount of blood. But…how did the wound happen? She had focused energy, but it wasn't that much…

But maybe…maybe that was the trick…

Spirit focused her energy to her hands again. It wasn't enough for a blast. It was the same as before…It was then that her hand began to glow. It was a lighter glow than before, but now it seemed sharper. Upon closer inspection, Spirit saw that the energy in her hand had extended into sharpened tips on her fingers.

Spirit smirked. Oh, she could work with this…

"This time, however, I won't hold back!" Shiva ran at Spirit with lighting speed.

Using her Premonition, Spirit dodged around Shiva's blows. It was like their previous exchanges, except now Spirit could counter attack. Spirit swung her hands at Shiva. The assassin sensed the danger this time and went out of the way to avoid her hands.

Spirit smirked. It was working! She was fighting on her own! She was going to win!

('Throw shuriken. Blades curve. This stops Spirit from moving back. Spirit is hit by Shiva.')

This Premonition hit just as Spirit. Whoever that was attacking didn't intend to kill her. They were trying to stop her dodging. If she moved back, she would be hit by the blades. If she didn't, Shiva's powerful kick would hit and most likely knock her out.

Of course, Spirit would take being knocked out compared to being stabbed. But this really stung! She was actually holding her own! Why did someone have to interfere now?!

…Wait…What was…Oh…Okay then…

Spirit continued to move back. She ignored the shuriken flying at her back. The halfa girl knew what would happen. She knew because her Premonition told her…

Rachel was here.

As Spirit moved back, the shuriken gained a light glow of white and black energy. The energy caused the shuriken's path to be altered. Instead of hitting Spirit, the blades zoomed past her and went towards Lady Shiva.

In alarm, Shiva ducked under the blades. Trying to use this opportunity, Spirit swung her arm to try and cut along Shiva's midsection. Before the attack could hit, though, Shiva caught Spirit's arm. This did not deter Spirit, though. She followed with her momentum, raised her leg, and kicked Shiva in the head.

"Yah!" Spirit cheered at finally landing a full blow on Lady Shiva.

That victory was short lived, though…

"Ack!" Spirit groaned as Shiva struck her in the face. Shiva followed through with a vicious combo. In a moment, Shiva had Spirit pinned to the ground once again.

"I am impressed child." Shiva ignored he swelling cheek and kept speaking. "You have true talent, but I have faced people far more skilled and ruthless than you."

"Does that include me?"

Spirit suddenly felt the weight fly off her. Shiva went tumbling as Phantom knocked her away from the other halfa. Spirit smiled as she saw her brother kneel down next to her. "You okay?"

"No, not really…" Spirit groaned. "But I'll live."

"That's good enough." Phantom looked to see Shiva glaring at him.

"So…you finally show." Lady Shiva stood.

"Yep, it's been a while, Shiva." Phantom got to his feet as well. "What's with you and picking fights with children? First it was Fenton and I, and now it's Spirit? Can't beat any of the grownups so you attack the young? Seems like a bully to me."

Shiva smiled lightly. "I wouldn't call you ghosts children. For all I know, you're older than I am, but appear to be young to deceive the world."

"Ah…" Phantom rolled his shoulders. "Then perhaps I can show you what I can really do and knock out every one of your teeth for attacking someone from my family."

He was bluffing. Phantom didn't have anything left in the tank. Getting here at his top speed had drained the rest of his powers. He couldn't even fly or turn intangible at this point. There was a possibility of fighting Shiva in a fist fight, but he would most likely lose…

"That was my goal." Shiva took a self-defense stance.

"Mother…" A voice behind Shiva called.

"Not now, Cassandra." Shiva ordered.

A young girl walked around the woman. Cassandra spoke again. "I believe the battle is lost."

Shiva looked up in the sky and sighed. "You are correct. The Necromancers are almost destroyed, my forces have been captured, and Walker has run away. It would be best to leave before the other ghosts arrive."

Phantom glared at the woman. He had to keep bluffing. If he stalled her, she might stay long enough to be captured "What? Running away already?"

"Count yourself lucky, ghost." Shiva glared. "You would not have won this fight."

'I know…' Phantom frowned. "That's big talk for the loser."

"It is true, mother…" Cassandra did not tear her eyes away from Phantom. She was watching him almost…expectantly. "You have failed in your mission."

"Be silent, child."

"Yes, mother."

Shiva glared at Phantom. "We will fight again. At that time, neither of us will have assistance, and I will win."

"Bring it on." Phantom answered.

It was then that a cloud of smoke appeared around them all. Phantom prepared himself for a sneak attack, but none came. It was quiet. When the smoke cleared, the assassin and girl were gone.

"…" Phantom relaxed. "You can come out."

Rachel appeared in a burst of white and black magic energy. "Hello…"

"Hey." Phantom eyed the girl. "You need to be careful interfering like that. If they had caught you…"

"I was safe." Rachel answered.

"I bet." Phantom nodded. "Anyway…thanks. You really saved my sister and bought me some time."

Rachel nodded. "You're welcome."

"You know…" Phantom smiled at the girl as he knelt down and picked up the now unconscious Spirit. "You might have a talent for this sort of thing."

"Maybe I do…"

* * *

"Dad..." Dani walked up to her father. He was in his office working on his paper work.

"Danielle!" Vlad smiled at his daughter. "Daniel told me about your fight."

"Dad..."

"Fighting off Lady Shiva. It's quite the impressive achievement." Vlad commented.

"Dad..."

"Of course, you are already impressive. And strong." Vlad kept talking. "I'm just saying that-"

"Dad!" Dani stopped Vlad mid-sentence. "It's okay."

"Ah...I see."

"And I'm sorry." Dani stated. "I shouldn't have gotten angry, but..."

"I know, Danielle..." Vlad sighed. "I know..."

"Can...can you start helping me train more?"

"Of course."

* * *

"Sounds like you had a tough day." Ember remarked as she and her boyfriend relaxed on the couch and watched a movie.

"Yeah…" Danny mumbled. "But everything worked out. Ivo was captured. The Mirror of Memories was protected. And no one was hurt."

"Yeah, and I bet after this, they'll finally move the mirror." Ember noted. "Before, it was small attempts, but this was a freaking army that tried to get the stupid mirror."

"Don't remind me…" Danny sighed. "You should have heard the crowd after everything settle down. The people of Amity Park are mad. If the mirror was moved sooner, this wouldn't have happened."

"They do seem to have an 'It's us against the world' type of mentally." Ember agreed.

"Can you blame them? After what happened when they tried to protect me…I bet it wasn't easy to be contained like that." Danny noted.

"Maybe I'll make a song about it." Ember stated. "People will freak."

"Mhm…"

"Hey what about that Gotham chick you mentioned?" Ember questioned. "Are you going to talk to her about acting out in Gatham? I mean, that's Gotham we're talking about. You can't get away with anything without the Batman knowing about it."

"Tomorrow…"

"Hehe…You'll have a busy day tomorrow too, I bet." Ember smirked. "You'll run yourself ragged at this point."

"Yeah…"

"Glad we have this time at least." Ember noted. "I'd be mad if you were all work and no play."

"Mmm…"

"Speaking of play…"

"…"

"Danny?"

"…Zzz…"

"Sigh…Goodnight, Babypop."

* * *

"…Imagine what we could have done with that mirror…" One of the scientists remarked.

"Yes, it's a shame they were unable to retrieve it." The other scientist noted.

"Well…perhaps there is still hope."

Joel had no idea what they were talking about. Yet that was all he heard about for weeks. Mirror this. Mirror that. It was all very strange.

"Not only that, Professor Ivo was captured by Phantom apparently."

"Oh, this day keeps getting better. He and that family of his seem to have a hand in everything that prevents our progress."

The young boy stopped in the middle of his kata form. He decided to take a moment to digest that bit of information. So, it was Phabock…No, Fanon?...No…

No, it was Phantom. Yes…Danny Phantom.

Joel knew who that was. Heck, everyone knew who that was. He was the hero ghost from Amit Park that ended that war. Joel remembered watching that.

So, Danny Phantom was an unintentional enemy of the Ghoul Project. His actions hurt this project and stopped the progress. After all, how many days had been spent of building that machine that was supposed to use the mirror? Now, all that progress was lost apparently.

Joel had to wonder how many lives that Phantom unknowingly saved. Several subjects weren't forced through the torture of the experiments because of the mirror machine. Everyone knew, though, that after the mirror arrived things would be even worse. They didn't know what the mirror was, but they knew that it was trouble for them.

Yes, many were given more time. This even included Joel.

"Danny Phantom…enemy of the Ghost Project…" Joel gave a small smile.

He like him already.

* * *

**Bonding Moment: Superboy**

"…What are you doing?" Phantom questioned as he approached the clone sitting on the living room couch in the Cave.

"Watching TV." Superboy answered.

"But…it's not even turned on." Phantom noted.

"Don't care." Superboy said simply.

"But aren't you bored?" Phantom questioned.

"Yes, but no one is willing to train." Superboy grumbled. "I was just getting that combo down too."

"People have limits, SB." Phantom flopped on the couch. "Sometimes, you just need to relax."

"How do you relax, then?" Superboy questioned.

Phantom paused. "I don't think you have the patience for what I do."

"Oh…" Superboy looked away.

"But I'm sure I can think of something you can try." Phantom noted. "What do you like?"

"Fighting." Superboy stated.

"Okay…what else?"

"…Training…"

"Alrighty then. Do you like anything non-violent?"

"Not that I know of."

"Okay then…" Phantom nodded. "So, basically, you're an angry guy that's way too into violence."

"Yep." Superboy agreed.

"Then I know what exactly you will like."

(Ten minutes later…)

M'gann walked into the weirdest sight when she entered the living room. Usually, Superboy didn't watch anything on TV, or at least he didn't care what he watched. Now, though, he seemed to be into it…

"Hit him with a chair!"

According to his yelling, at least.

"Oh! He's setting up a table!" Phantom pointed.

"Yeah! Power bomb!" Superboy grinned.

"Is that…professional wrestling?" M'gann questioned.

"Yep." Phantom nodded.

"What was that?! That can't be legal!" Superboy yelled at the television.

"And why are you watching it?" Miss Martian questioned.

"I thought SB would like it." Phantom shrugged.

"YEAH!"

"…and I was right…"

"Okay…" M'gann began to walk away. This really wasn't her thing, but…

"High five!"

"Up top!"

At least Superboy seemed happy…

Phantom grinned at the clone. "And just way until I show you MMA fighting."

* * *

**I am sick of writing for school. I had to write long papers for all my classes. So when I had free time, I looked at my laptop and felt physically ill. But that has passed and this chapter is out.**

**With one problem gone, another appears, though. The new year gaming drought is over, and three different games I want will come out. South Park: Stick of Truth, inFamous Second Son, and Titanfall. Not to mention the next Telltale Walking Dead episode is out...Yeah. It's going to be hard to focus.**

**Oh, also...MARCH MADNESS!...Yep...**

**Recently, I began to notice the flaws in the Young Justice show. For example, in 'Welcome to Happy Harbor' M'gann could suddenly disguise herself as Red Tornado who definitely has a masculine build. In 'Dropzone,' the dates were wrong in some place. Not to mention, in 'Schooled' why didn't the League just Zeta the Amazo parts like in Season 2? Was it because they couldn't do it at that time or was Batman throwing the team a bone? I think it's a combination of the two. Did anyone else notice these things?**

**Thank you all for reading and please remember to...**

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW**


	6. Consequences

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime." Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

* * *

Chapter 6: "Consequences"

(Monday-August 9, 2010)

"Next."

"Your plans for the holographic software is working perfectly. In a few years, we can revolutionize entertainment and communication."

"Good. Next."

"We're having trouble with the…mentally controlled tech. We can't seem to get it to work to your specifications."

"Okay, I'll put it as one of my personal projects. Next."

"You were right. These new batteries work twice as effectively as before. If we can implement this type of tech in power plants across the country…no the world, we can-"

"One step at a time. Right now, they're just batteries, dude." Danny waved the scientist off. "Next."

Axion Labs was, at this point, a shining jewel for Amity Park. With its affiliation to Fenton Works' recourses and information, and Vlad Co.'s (Yeah, real original name) nearly unlimited funding, Axion Labs had produced a lot of revolutionary technology. They had already produced tech from household items, all the way up to satellites.

While Vlad handled the business and financial aspects, Danny supervised the tech and projects. Basically, he came up with ideas and blueprints, then the scientist of Axion Labs built them. Not all of them worked, but a lot of them proved successful.

Danny was quite pleased with the progress. Axion Labs finished projects that he could never find the time to even start. This even included weapons…

Before the war, Danny was really reluctant to produce ectoplasmic weaponry for sale. He was scared that this would produce conflict not only among the humans, but also the ghosts. After the war, Danny realized that ectoplasmic weapons were now being produced all over the world. It was now clear, that the world had adapted to ectoplasmic weaponry and even more powerful tech like Amazo.

With so much dangerous tech in the hands of the bad guys, Danny decided that it would no longer be beneficial to hold the world back. He had to even the odds for everyone else. And in the meantime, if he created something that could shut down all ectoplasmic weapons if ever necessary…

Well, that would suck for his enemies.

"Danny." Harriet Chin, an old friend of his parents and Danny's publicist, spoke up. She was thin woman of average height with silky black hair pulled into a pony tail.

"Yeah?" Danny looked up from a report he was reading. Harriet had proven to be a valuable ally over the months. She made sure that the right amount of information was revealed for both Fenton and Phantom, and that the media was on his side.

"We need to talk about you making some public appearances." Harriet answered.

Danny sighed. "That again?"

"Yes." Harriet nodded. "Like it or not, Fenton Works is now a household name. As the head inventor, you are a public figure. If you don't do something in the public, people will talk. You'll get a bad reputation."

"And I should care why?" Danny questioned. He didn't care about bad publicity. "It won't affect business if I'm an extreme introvert."

Harriet sighed. "Fine, then…"

Danny walked into the large of Axion Labs. It was filled with computers, half-way finished machines, and tools. Handing his report to a nearby scientist, he added. "Sorry, Harri, but I don't have time for that. I have enough on my plate. Being a public figure (at least my human part) would be too much."

"If you say so."

"I do. And-"

Crash!

"I told you that wouldn't work, Technus!"

"Stupid human! The machine would have worked if you had not gotten in the way!"

Danny scowled and walked up to the ruckus. This had happened several times over the past couple of months. While brilliant, Technus was not what you would call a team player. This was especially true when he worked with humans.

Sometimes, Danny wondered how Skulker and Technus worked together in the alternate future. Neither of them were any good at teamwork. It was probably the threat of his alternate self that pushed them into an alliance.

The threat of death had the tendency to cause unlikely alliances…

"Hey." Danny addressed the two scientists. "What's wrong?"

"These humans keep interfering in my work!" Technus was a technology ghost. He had long white hair, green skin, and was wearing a lab coat. "If it were just I, Technus master of all technology, then this work would have already been finished!"

"And I told you, Technus, if you activated the new power source, there was a 50% chance it would explode!" A tall African-American scientist wearing glasses spoke.

"It would have been a small explosion! No one would have gotten hurt." Technus argued. "Don't insult my intelligence!"

"Hey!" Danny stepped in between the two of them. "I'm getting sick of this fighting! You've been doing it for weeks."

"But…"

"No buts. Technus, stop doing dangerous experiments. Silas, no one was hurt. You don't need to get into an argument. Next time, talk it through." Danny glared.

Harriet had to admit. It was hilarious to see two grown men…er, man and ghost…getting scolded at like they were children. And by a teenager no less!

"Fine…" Silas Stone sighed.

"Whatever…" Technus shrugged.

"Okay, I take it you were working on the new Spector Speeder, then?" Danny questioned.

"Yes, we were working on the new design that you supplied us." Silas nodded. To most, it might be demeaning or embarrassing to take orders from a teenager, but Silas knew that age did not equal capability. He knew at first glance at Danny's many designs and inventions that the boy was brilliant. That was all Silas cared about.

"And?" Danny questioned.

"It is half-way finished." Technus noted. "We're having trouble with the power core. It becomes overheated with all the different functions working in the Spector Speeder."

"That's why I had the new batteries developed." Danny answered. "Expand them and put them into the Speeder."

"I see…" Silas nodded.

"Good idea…" Technus agreed.

"Okay." Danny turned. "I've got to get going. Harriet, what's next?"

"I'm not your personal assistant."

"Uh huh, I've seen your paychecks. You get paid enough to be my publicist, personal assistant, driver, and bodyguard." Danny snorted.

"…Fair enough." Harriet shrugged. "Now you need to go out and do something a normal teenager would do. I say go do drugs."

"Harriet!"

* * *

"Hmm…" Valerie Gray eyed the punching bag that Dani just hit. The female ex-ghost hunter was a beautiful African-American girl about average height. She wore a yellow blouse, orange skirt, and orange headband in her hair.

"Is hmm good?" Dani questioned.

"It depends." Valerie turned to the halfa. "If you mean, would this work in a fight, then yes."

"Awesome!"

"But you need to be careful." Valerie warned. "If your…"

"Spectral Claws." Dani beamed in pride.

"Yeah…claws." Valerie frowned. "Claws hit a normal person in the wrong way…it could be messy."

"Ah…"

Valerie pointed to the bag. It had a deep gash in it and was leaking sand. "Your ectoplasmic claws are deadly sharp. One wrong move, and you can kill a person. The human body has several weakness. If you cut a main artery, then there is a good chance that your opponent will bleed to death quickly."

"I see…But what about Danny? He usually swings around a huge broadsword. It could cut just a deeply as my claws."

"I don't think I've ever seen him cut a ghost let alone a human." Valerie stated. "From what I heard, he did it to the Torch ghost and tried to do it to Nocturne, but he mostly uses it to focus his energy."

"But my claws…are meant to cut." Dani noted.

"Yes, and they will cut deeply." Valerie nodded. "I'd use them only when absolutely necessary."

"Yeah, that's what Dad and Wulf said…I think…" Dani rubbed her head. It was sometimes hard to understand the wolf ghost.

"Wait. You already asked them for help?" Valerie frowned. "Then why did you ask me to watch your claws?"

"Oh, I don't know…" Dani whistled innocently. "Maybe to try and convince you to come back out into the field…"

"Dani…"

"Come on!" Dani gave her puppy dog eyes. "It would be so awesome to fight together again."

"I'm sorry, but Daddy won't let me." Valerie looked away.

"Don't lie." Dani crossed her arms and glared. "He works at Axion Labs remember? Danny talks to him all the time. I know that it isn't Damion that is holding you back."

"…I…" Valerie shook her head. "Fine. I don't want to okay?"

"No, it's not okay!" Dani shouted. "You can't just stay away forever."

"Maybe I can." Valerie said stubbornly. "After all, you seem to be doing well without me. You have Wolf, Cujo, Danny, and, heck, you even have the Fright Knight helping you."

"That's not the same." Dani rolled her eyes. "Wulf and Cujo aren't much for conversation. Fright Knight is a stick in the mud, and Danny's gone all the time."

"Right, with that…team." Valerie nodded. She was probably the only human in Amity Park that knew about Young Justice. Danny made sure to keep her up to date on what was happening. She didn't know if it was out of their friendship or out of hope that she would return to being a heroine.

"Yeah, that's why you should come back." Dani nodded to herself. "Besides, you don't to be outdone by the guys, right?"

Valerie chuckled. "That won't work, Dani. I've heard a lot of worse insults to my ego."

"Darn…"

"Look, Dani." Valeried knelt down to Dani's level. "I'm sorry, but now's not the best time."

"When will be a good time?"

Valerie frowned. "When…when I'm needed."

"But your needed now." Dani suggested. "You can come help guard the Mirror of Memories while it's moved. It'll be fun!"

"No." Valerie shook her head. "Part of the Justice League and the S-rank ghost will be there. My presence is unnecessary."

"Well, I don't think so…"

"And that's why you're my friend." Valerie smiled.

"Whatever." Dani shrugged and looked away. "But you know that I won't stop until you're back to being the Red Huntress again."

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

**Recognized: Danny Phantom B04**

"Hey," Phantom walked into the Cave. "You said you wanted to see me?"

The halfa noted that both Batman and Green Arrow were already in the Cave. They seemed to be talking to someone. Phantom knew that the rest of Young Justice, besides Wally, were spending the day at the beach. He was invited as well, but Phantom had too much on his plate right now to laze around on the beach.

Batman turned. "Yes, as the leader of Young Justice, you should be the first to learn about your new teammate."

"New teammate?" Phantom questioned.

"Yes." Green Arrow smiled. "This is…"

A girl stepped out from behind Ga. The girl was wearing a green costume similar to GA, but her midsection was showing. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a pony tail. Despite the green mask, Phantom could easy tell that the girl was gorgeous. Her sharp blue eyes lit up and her lips formed into a smirk at the sight of Phantom.

"Artemis." The girl spoke. "Call me Artemis."

Phantom had to fight his disbelieving look. He forced his shock down and remained neutral. His eyes, however, showed his surprise as he met Artemis' gaze.

'Why is she here?' Phantom questioned mentally. Phantom was not upset. It was the opposite, really. Phantom was glad to have Artemis on the team. Back when Phantom, as Red X, went to Gotham to obtain information, Artemis proved herself an invaluable ally and friend.

No, Phantom was actually glad to see her, but he still questioned as to why she was here. As far as he knew, Artemis had no affiliation with the League. She might not have mentioned it, but if she was somehow related to Green Arrow, then why didn't she mention it when Danny made her combat arrows for her?

"It's nice to meet you." Phantom extended his hand. He had to keep his cool. "And welcome to the team."

"Likewise, and thanks." Artemis took the hand and shook it. "It'll be fun to work with Danny Phantom and the sidekicks of the League."

"Er…" Phantom frowned. "I wouldn't call them that. They really don't like being called a sidekick."

Artemis nodded slowly. "I can understand that."

"So, you're an archer like GA?" Phantom looked to said hero.

"Yep, he's my uncle." Artemis explained.

"Ah…" Phantom knew that was a lie. He could tell, but he said nothing. "So finished your training, or did Speedy's leaving push you into the spot light."

"A little bit of both." Artemis played along.

"So…" Phantom turned to the Leaguers. "Where are the others? They should meet our new teammate too."

"They're changing." Green Arrow noted. "They'll be here in a minute."

"Hey, Phantom!" Robin greeted the halfa as they walked into the center of the training hall.

"Or now…" Green Arrow deflated. "Why must I always be wrong?"

"The beach was so much fun!" Miss Martian cheered. "You should have come with us."

"Sorry, I had business to handle." Phantom shrugged. "Work comes first."

"Work?" Superboy questioned. "What…"

It was then that they noticed Artemis. They all raised an eyebrow at her appearance. The green arrow design probably threw them off.

"Guys, meet our new teammate." Phantom gestured to the archer.

"Hey, name's Artemis." Artemis place her hands on her hips.

"Oh! Like the goddess of the hunt and bow!" M'gann smiled. "That's so clever."

"Greetings." Aqualad shook Artemis' hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure that you'll make a fine addition to the team."

"Yeah, you'll do great but…" Robin looked down. "I was kind of hoping that Speedy would join. Not that you're not great! But…Speedy has a history with us."

"Not all of it good." Superboy grunted.

"So, you two are Robin and Aqualad." Artemis noted. "But you two…"

"I'm M'gann!" Miss Martian floated up to Artemis. "But I'm on Earth now, so you can call me Megan…Oh! And my hero name is Miss Martian."

"Superboy." The clone said simply.

"Wow, didn't know Superman and the Manhunter had…partners." Artemis corrected herself at the end. Her eyes swept across the two aliens. Her eyes lingered a little longer on Superboy, but it wasn't very noticeable.

"We mostly work with the team." Miss Martian cheerfully explained.

"Yeah…mostly…" Superboy looked away.

"Alright then." Aremis nodded. "Wait…I was told Kid Flash was on this team too."

"He is." Robin nodded. "But he had school…poor sap."

"He will arrived shortly." Kaldur explained.

**Recognized: Kid Flash B03**

"Or now…" Kaldur noted.

"I feel for ya kid." Green Arrow stated.

"The Wallman is here!" Wally appeared in the Zeta Tube. He was dressed in swim gear and had beach gear in his hands. "Now let's get this party star-" He tripped and fell on his face. "-ted…"

"I got him…" Phantom noted as the beach ball bounced by them. "Smooth move there, Gracie."

"Wallman, huh? I love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?" Artemis smirked.

"The ability to fail epically." Phantom joked as he pulled Wally to his feet. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" Wally eyed the new girl. "Um…who's that?"

"Artemis." The blond stated proudly. "Your new teammate."

"Kid Flash. Never heard of you." Wally noted.

"Um, she's my new protégé." Green Arrow interjected.

"What happened to your old one?" Wally questioned.

**Recognized: Speedy B07**

"Well, this is going to be good." Phantom noted.

And it was. Speedy…er, Red Arrow arrived and made the situation very awkward. The animosity between Artemis, Red Arrow, and Green Arrow was obvious. Phantom wished he could do something, but this was obviously a…family issue, and Phantom already learned that he couldn't help all that much with family issues.

What really concerned Phantom was the obvious tension between Artemis and Kid Flash. There was a chance that their attitudes would affect Young Justice. He would have to be sure to try and ease the tensions.

It had to be soon, too. Red Arrow told them how he rescued Dr. Serling Roquette from the League of Shadows. He hid her at Happy Harbor High School, and was letting the team guard her. Phantom was glad that RA saved the women, but he didn't like the disrespect the young hero showed to his team. He didn't even offer to help. It was like he thought he was above them.

After Red Arrow left, Phantom turned to Batman. "I know this is important, but I kind of thought we would be stationed to Amity Park for the move."

"What move?" Artemis questioned.

"The League is moving a dangerous artifact from Amity Park today." Kaldur explained.

"Yeah, it's the thing that the news has been talking about for weeks." Superboy shrugged.

"Ah…" Artemis remembered that.

"I understand how you feel about this. It is in your home town." Batman nodded to Phantom. "But the League will handle the mirror. It will be moved safely. You and Young Justice need to focus on Dr. Roquette."

"It's not the League I'm worried about…" Phantom caught everyone's attention. "The ghost's that will be working with them…Many of them enjoy making scenes."

"We'll handle it." Batman left no room for argument.

"Alright…" Phantom nodded slowly. He had heard about Dr. Roquette's disappearance. Anyone that knew about the field of science knew about that. He knew personally what the League of Shadows would do with Roquette's knowledge. The Mist could lead to a disaster. "Let's go then."

In the back of his mind, though, Phantom was still worried. He had hoped to be there to ease tensions between the League and the S-rank ghosts. Now, though, they would be left on their own. He would just have to hope that they wouldn't kill each other.

'Please don't kill each other…' Phantom pleaded in his head.

* * *

"They're gonna kill each other."

"Nyx!" Spirit glared at her friend. "Don't talk like that."

Across the street from the Amity Park Museum, Spirit, Rachel, Youngblood, and Nyx were watching as the members of the Justice League and Council of the Elite prepared to move the Mirror of Memories. They look civil now, but…

"Torch refuses to be in the back! Torch leads, not follows!" A ghost was wearing a chain necklace around his neck. Various rings were on each of the man's fingers. Simple silver piercings were in the man's ears, right eyebrow, and tongue…which was sticking out at them. Finally, a headband with the word _champion_ was tied around the ghost's forehead.

The peace could easily be changed into chaos.

"Be silent, child." Pandora ordered. "We need to be respectful…for now."

"Torch know this." Torch frowned. "But Torch does not like taking orders from humans."

"I can understand that…" Pandora looked at the group of Leaguers. "Although, Frostbite doesn't seem to have a problem with it."

"Harharharharhar!" Frostbite laughed. "It is good to see you again, Aquaman…or at least in better circumstances."

"Yes, Frostbite." The Atlantian nodded. "I am glad to see that you have remained safe since our battle."

"Yes, perhaps we can have a rematch some time!" Frostbite gave him a huge grin. "This time it can be on land."

A little bit away, the rest of the Leaguers watched on.

"Tsk…" Wonder Woman looked away. "It is hard to believe that creature is a ruler."

"Looks are deceiving." Superman tried to reason. "Besides, Aquaman said that he was a good guy."

"He froze Orin in a block of ice."

"Er…" Superman looked uncomfortable.

"It could be worse." The Green Lantern with a green mask and pale face commented. "That monster Colossus could be here. That thing almost killed me and Captain Atom."

"Er…"

"I thought you would be more concerned about the ghost known as Vision." Red Tornado stated. "She will be here as well…"

"Er…"

"Torch remembers you!" Torch pointed at Red Tornado. "The android that is evenly matched with Torch!"

"..That is either a really good thing, or a really bad thing."

"See!" Nyx pointed down to the adults. "They won't be able to work together."

"For once, I agree with Nyx." Rachel stated. "Only a small portion of the League can even tolerate ghosts, and even fewer would trust them."

"Aye…" Youngblood nodded. "Thou yonder warriors shan't be able to work together."

"What you supposed to be, anyway?"

"I beith a wizardith!" Youngblood gestured to his clothes. He was wearing a cloak with stars decorated on it.

The tipped skeleton wizard hat spoke. "Not everything ends with 'ith'."

"Well they should."

"I…can see what you mean." Spirit pulled out her phone. "I texted Danny, but he's…busy."

"Busy enough to ignore this?" Rachel questioned.

"Yeah…" Spirit frowned.

"Well, it must be freaking important." Nyx noted. "Personally, I wouldn't miss this for the world. I can't wait to see the fireworks."

"Will you mom even let you follow them?" Rachel questioned.

"Will yours?" Nyx retorted.

"Probably not, but I'm not the one dying to see this." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"It wouldith be funith if we see the adults fightith." Youngblood suggested.

"I swear, if you don't stop that, then I'm done being your hat…" The ghost's skeleton companion warned.

"…Fine…"

"Hmm…" Spirit eyed the adults down below. "I'm going to follow them."

"You are?!" Everyone turned to her.

"Yeah, I've got a bad feeling about this." Spirit nodded.

"You think they'll start fighting?" Youngblood questioned.

"No." Spirit shocked them. "But…I…feel something in the air."

"Feel?" Nyx questioned.

"Yeah, it's like…I know that something will happen." Spirit explained. "Someone will try and steal the mirror."

"Who would be dumb enough to do that?" Rachel questioned. "There are five Leaguers, and six S-rank ghosts protecting the mirror. Attacking would be suicide."

"Perhaps…" Vision's voice drew their attention. They turned and saw the strategist standing behind them. "But perhaps not. With the right plan, anything is possible."

"You would know…" Nyx noted.

"Is there something you want?" Spirit questioned.

"Yes, I overheard your conversation." Vision explained.

"Ah…that's not good…" Youngblood shrunk back. He knew Vision's reputation.

"So you don't want us to go then…" Rachel sighed.

"No, quite the contrary. I need your help."

* * *

Phantom really felt like pulling his hair out. This mission wasn't even starting well. Artemis had really messed with the team's flow. It wasn't really her fault, though. If they just had some time to integrate her into the dynamic of the team…it would probably have went better.

'Ahk...This is weird…' Artemis commented as the mental link was established.

'And distracting.' Dr. Roquetee noted. She was a blond woman with short hair and glasses. 'Coding a distributed algorithm virus on a kiddy computer with less Ram than a wrist watch is hard enough. Now I have to hear teen think in my skull!'

'Lady, do you always complain when someone tries to help you?' Kid Flash questioned.

'Pot, Kettle. Have you met?' You could almost feel Artemis' sarcasm.

'Enough!' Phantom ordered. 'If you two can't get along, I'll make you wait in the Bioship.'

'But she started it!'

'And I'll end it.' Phantom threatened. 'Now everyone, be quiet.' He looked over at Artemis. 'Go patrol the perimeter, please.'

'Fine.' Artemis agreed.

'What's the plan?' Aqualad looked at the leader.

'Still thinking…' Phantom stated. 'The biggest problem is this place. Way too many entrances. It's a good place to hide until you're found. And when the doc activates the antivirus and tracks the Fog, they will find us, and keeping out trained ninja…will be difficult.'

'Then what are you going to do?' Dr. Roquette looked up at Phantom.

'Hmm…We don't have time to come up with something full proof. The longer we wait, the more the Shadows will use the Fog.' Phantom noted. 'First things first, trying using this instead of the kiddy computer.'

'A Tucker Phone? Those things have impressive processing power for a phone, but…'

'This one's specially made.' Phantom stated as he plugged in the phone to the monitor. 'Trust me, you'll be hard pressed to find supercomputers that can run as fast as this.'

'Alright. Can't hurt.' Roquette nodded.

'Plus, we can move quickly if necessary.' Superboy suggested. 'Keep moving to throw off the attackers.'

'Right.' Phantom agreed. 'With that out of the way, we need to focus on the rest of the mission. Stop the Fog and protect the doctor.'

'And will you be able to do both?' Roquette questioned.

'Yes.' Phantom stated. 'We'll go on the offense too. Kid Flash, Robin, Aqualad, you're all going to track down the Fog. Get to the Bioship and be ready to move when the doctor starts tracking it. Find the person using the Fog and take him down.'

'On it!'

'Of course.'

'You got it, man.'

'The rest of us will stay here.' Phantom explained. 'Superboy, get to the roof. Use your infrared vision to scan the area. The assassin's might be able to move silently, but they can't hide their body heat without some hardcore tech.'

'Right.'

'Artemis guard the south. Miss Martian guard the north. It will force the Shadows to try and enter the side.' Phantom ordered. 'Be ready to move on Superboy's signal, so stay focused.'

'Okay!'

'Whatever you say.'

'And what will you do?' Roquette asked.

'I'm your personal bodyguard.' Phantom stated. 'The last line of defense, but don't worry. I have a few tricks up my sleeve to confuse them. If we at least stall them until the Fog is stopped, then they might just leave. There will no longer be a reason to attack you…besides revenge, but in that case, I can fly you out of here.'

Roquette seemed satisfied. 'Okay then, I'll start tracking the Fog.'

'Good. Let's do this.'

* * *

"Are you okay, Spirit?" Youngblood questioned.

The group of children invisibly followed the truck holding the mirror. They were at a good enough distance so that the members of the League that were leading the truck couldn't notice them. The ghosts probably were aware of them, but Vision most likely told them about the kids. Especially considering…

"My Dad doesn't look happy." Spirit noted.

"Neither does my Mom." Nyx nodded.

"They probably don't enjoy the fact that Vision is using you in her plan to protect the mirror." Rachel stated.

"I still don't see how we can help…" Youngblood noted. "I mean, even if I'm an awesome level 41 wizard dragonborn, I'm still don't think that we can help if a wall of superbeings can't stop something."

"Captain Kyd's got a point." Nyx agreed.

"That's Lord Wizard Kyd." Youngblood was ignored.

"I'm all for jumping in the midst of a mosh pit, but…" Nyx eyed her mother. "I don't want to be around when Mom fights…"

"Are you two…okay?" Rachel questioned. "After what happened after the Freakshow thing anyway."

"I never got an answer," Nyx frowned deeply. "But I ain't giving up. If I can use magic…maybe you can help me?"

"I can try…"

"Hey, I know that's important to you, but…yawn…l-let's stay focused…" Spirit rubbed her eyes.

"You okay?" Youngblood questioned.

"Yeah…Yeah, I'm fine, but…I just feel drained right now…" Spirit mumbled.

"Well, darn…" Nyx yawned. "That yawn made me sleepy, Girl Scout."

"Actually…" Rachel's eyes drooped. "I feel tired as well. How about you, Youngblood?"

"…Zzz…"

"Youngblood!" Nyx snapped.

"Twenty-four!" Youngblood's eyes snapped open.

"Stay…away…dummy…" Rachel noted.

"Gah, it must be that two o'clock wall…" Spirit muttered.

"But it's like nine."

"Then…" Spirit froze. Her Premonition was screaming at her. She stopped flying. The others stopped and turned to the girl.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Youngblood questioned.

"Yeah, come on, Girl Scout." Nyx glared. "We're out of Amity Park now, but they won't stop for us. We'll lose them if we stop."

"No…" Spirit paled. "He can't be here…"

"Who?" Rachel questioned.

"The reason why we are all so tired."

"Huh? What do you –"

Boom! The entire area was covered in an explosion.

Everything went black…

* * *

'So you, know Daniel Fenton right?' Dr. Roquette asked over the mental link.

'Yeah, we've worked together before. I even helped rescue him from the Shadows once.' Phantom stated. 'Why?'

'He's a mystery to the scientific community.' Roquette explained. 'One day, he just comes out as a genius inventor. Granted it was in his genes, but still…"

'Ah…'

'Many people call him the Phoenix. A brilliant mind reborn from the ashes.' Roquette noted. 'But I don't know. I suppose I would have to meet him.'

'Er…no offence, Lady, but weren't you the one giving us a hard time for talking too much?' Superboy questioned.

'That was when I was working on my programming.' Roquette noted. 'But Phantom was right about this phone. Now, I just have to wait for it to process.'

'Wow, is it really that good?' M'gann questioned.

'It's like a miniature supercomputer.' Roquette noted. 'That's why I was asking about Fenton. He made this for you, right?'

'…Yes…'

'Ah. Maybe the rumors are true then.'

'Well, I don't…Crap!' Phantom was alarmed.

'What is it?' Artemis questioned.

'My duplicate patrolling the perimeter has been destroyed. And I know who did it. Superboy, east side.' Phantom ordered.

'…I see someone.' Superboy questioned. 'But…there's also one on the west side.'

'Two of them?!' Roquette panicked.

'Okay, Artemis and Miss M, take the assassin on the west side. Makes sure that assassin doesn't get in. Superboy, follow the plan. I'll take the other one.'

'You sure?' Superboy questioned.

'Yeah, I have a score to settle.'

* * *

Spirit had to force herself out of the crater she was in. Strangely, there was very little pain from the black energy explosion. No, she just felt…weak. It was as if all her power was stopped in a single moment.

"Ah…" Spirit struggled to stand. None of her friends were around her. She could hear fighting in the distance, but she couldn't see it. The trees and darkness were in the way.

"I'm so glad you're awake." A familiar voice spoke behind Spirit.

The halfa flinched and turned. There stood one of the Phantom Family's most despised enemies. He was the person that put them through some of their worst hardships.

The ghost appeared like a demon with his down ward purple horn and red eyes with a scar running down his left eye, and another scar running across his face. One of his horns was broken off too. His body seemed to be made of stars.

Nocturne was back. But…

"What the…" Spirit's jaw fell. Terrifying black energy danced around sleep ghost. Spirit felt a sense of dread from looking at this energy. That wasn't the weird part, though. The weird part was from where the energy was coming.

"Is that…a black power ring?" Spirit stared at Nocturne's starry right hand.

"Yes, it is." Nocturne grinned cruelly. "And with it, I'm invincible."

"I've heard that before. And if I remember correctly, you got your butt handed to you." Spirit mocked.

"Ah…Still have that fake act of cockiness I see." Nocturne chuckled. "It's a really good trick. Makes your opponent underestimate you even more. But it is far from the truth."

"What are you talking about?"

Nocturne eyed his ring. "You see, my powers have recently been amplified. My mere presence makes people drowsy. Not only that, when people sleep, I can see them. Not their dreams. No, I see their souls."

"That makes no sense."

"It doesn't? After all, not a minute ago you were unconscious. In that short period of time, I saw a lot." Nocturne's evil smile made Spirit take a step back. "All your doubts, hopes, dreams, and personality traits were visible before my eyes."

"…W-what?"

"You cherish your family and friends above all else, especially Phantom. Yet, at the same time you feel held down by them because they don't let you reach your full potential. Part of you wants to know what would happen if you were alone, but you also fear solitude." Nocturne's dark laugh rang out. "That's why keep trying to get the Red Huntress back in action. You think that she always be there for you, while at the same time push you past your limits."

"I…I…"

"Let's dig deeper, though. You're cheerful, positive, and imaginative…when you're not thinking about Phantom's almost death that is." Nocturne took pleasure in watching Spirit squirm. "Despite your doubts in yourself, you're confident that you will become stronger. That comes from your more positive outlook on life. It's this aspect that constantly compels you to work to make the world better.

"One of your greatest flaws is your desire to be the center of attention. You relish in attention and praise. This search for acknowledgment and attention is why you despise silence and boredom, always use humor as a deflecting devise for negativity, and are willing to destroy things to bring attention back to you. Very unlike the one known as Nyx who merely likes chaos for entertainment."

"Stop it!" Spirit shouted.

"You love the feeling of accomplishment. That is why you jump at the chance for combat. Recently, however, you have begun to take an interest in art and literature." Nocturne sneered at her. "You hope that this will fulfill both your desire for acknowledgement and your desire to accomplish what few others can."

"Shut up!" Spirit rocketed at the ghost. "There's no way you can know this stuff!"

She sent an ectoplasmic powered kick at Nocturne. Nocturne merely raised his hand. The black ring on his hand glowed and blocked the kick effortlessly. No…that was not the best way to describe it. The energy didn't seem to block the kick. It didn't even absorb the kick. No, it was almost as if…

The energy behind the kick disappeared.

"Wha-Ack!" Spirit cried out as the black ring blasted her back. Like before, the pain was minimal. It was more like Spirit suddenly felt exhausted, like she ran a marathon and had nothing left in the tank. Was it part of Nocturne's powers? No…she wasn't tired. It was more like she didn't have the energy to move.

"But I can know that." Nocturne explained. "You told me after all."

"Guh…" Spirit forced herself and wobbly legs. "What…what happened to you?"

"I became better and stronger." Nocturne stated. "It is all because of the power of the ring."

"No, not that…" Spirit look up with puzzled eyes. "Nocturne was an arrogant, power hungry jerk who wanted to rule the world, but I don't sense anything like that with my Premonition. Your intentions aren't that. You want people to suffer. You're completely different from before. Who…who are you?"

"I am the nightmare of death." Nocturne answered simply.

Spirit didn't understand what that meant. "I don't-"

**ROAR!**

The ground rumbled from the power of the roar. It was almost like a miniature earthquake. After a moment, though, it stopped.

"What?!" Spirit looked in the direction of the demonic roar. In the distance, was a large black and purple dragon. Like Nocturne, it seemed to have an aura of black energy around it. Despite this, the halfa girl recognized the dragon.

"Is that Aragon?" Spirit whispered.

"Yes, the beast of death." Nocturne extended his hand and his ring glowed. "Don't worry, you'll get to see up close and personal soon enough."

"Yeah," Spirit glared. "But it will be after I kick your butt."

Nocturne laughed. "Even you don't believe that. Here let me show you…"

"**Real power!**"

* * *

"Never thought you would be here." Phantom noted as he stood next to Dr. Roquette.

"I guess it's your bad luck." Jinx noted.

"That's the thing." Phantom turned. "I believe that we make our own luck based on our actions."

"You must have made some sucky actions then." Jinx noted.

"That…is hard to argue…" Phantom frowned.

"Oh…" Jinx smirked. "Do I sense some doubt in the almighty hero."

"None whatsoever." Phantom eyed the girl. "I take it that you're working with the assassin Cheshire now. What happened to Walker? Did he dump you for Shiva?"

"Hardly." Jinx rolled her eyes. "I was tired of babysitting that fool."

"I see…" Phantom nodded.

"Enough formalities." Jinx stated. "I'm here to kill the good doctor."

"Figure as much." Phantom then addressed the doctor. "Keep working, doc. I'll make sure doesn't get close."

"False promises. Never figured you for a liar." Jinx charged.

"We're all full of surprises." Phantom attacked the bad luck user.

Jinx first attacked with a blast of pink energy. Phantom easily blocked this with a blast of energy of his own. The two blasts met between the two fighters and canceled each other out. Following this miniature explosion, the two meta-humans began to fight in hand-to-hand combat.

Jinx sent a spinning hooking heel kick at Phantom's head. Phantom ducked under the kick and threw a punch at Jinx's midsection. With the smallest amount of effort, Jinx moved out of the way of the strike. Seeing an opening, she sent a hex bolt at Phantom.

The bad luck energy hit Phantom and sent him skidding back. He could feel his powers be disrupted by the energy. It was a weird reaction. It was almost like…

Never mind, he needed to focus.

Jinx quickly turned her attention to the doctor. She blasted at the doctor. Even if Roquette dodged, the blast would hit the computer. Either way, it was mission accomplished.

If Phantom didn't create a shield of ectoplasm around the doctor that is…

Despite the danger, Roquette still hadn't turned around. Even as the computer monitor spark and rattled because of Jinx's bad luck ability. Jinx was surprised by her resolve in the face of danger.

"Tsk…" Jinx glared at Phantom. "Okay, then. I was going to go easy on you, but…"

Pink energy began to flow off of Jinx in waves. Her cat like eyes disappeared in a pink glow. "I won't hold back anymore."

Phantom expected Jinx to blast at him, but she didn't. Instead she sent a hex bolt at the ceiling. The lights shattered and sparked. The halfa was forced to cover his eyes from the sparks and glass.

Jinx instantly took advantage. This time, she blasted the floor beneath Phantom. The tiles exploded up and forced the halfa into the air. At this time, Jinx decided to attack directly. She sent a barrage of small hex bolts at Phantom.

He was blasted into the nearby wall. Before he could recover, Jinx trapped and pinned him to the wall. "And that's that."

With a wave of her hand, Jinx sent a blast at Dr. Roquette. The bolt hit the computer and caused an explosion. Roquette was sent crashing into the opposite wall. She fell to the ground lifeless.

"You lose." Jinx smirked at Phantom.

"Do I?" Phantom returned the smirk.

"Huh?" Jinx watched as green energy came up from behind her and was absorbed into the Phantom.

She turned. Dr. Roquette was gone. All that was left was a smoking metallic belt.

"A Fenton Disguise Belt. It can hide your hair color, eyes, and clothes. It may not be as perfect as Martian shape shifting, but it was enough to fool you." Phantom smirked. "Oh, and here comes the other one."

Once again, green energy was absorbed by Phantom.

"What did you do?" Jinx hissed.

"I can make three duplicates. One patrolled the perimeter. One was disguised as the doctor. One guarded Roquette in the last place any one looks when they're searching for someone." Phantom explained. "That's why I have Superboy guarding her right now."

"You…"

"Oh, and another thing." Phantom pushed Jinx and sent her flying across the room.

"Duplicates greatly diminish my power. So now…I won't hold back anymore."

* * *

The entire area was covered in black flames. Aragon's fire had burned everything in its path. Luckily, no living being was hit by the fire. The flames covering this area fell from the sky as the dragon ghost fought Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern.

The ghosts were fighting the army of Sleep Walkers that Nocturne created. Usually, the artificial beings were pushovers. Unfortunately, the Sleep Walkers were also covered in the black energy. No matter how hard you hit them, they just seemed to keep coming. Not only that, their attack power was many times stronger than ever before.

"Gah…" Spirit landed on the ground with a thud. Like Nocturne said, he took her to the area where everyone was fighting. There was not much that Spirit could do. Every time she gathered the energy to fight back, the black energy seemed to wipe her stamina away.

"Ah…" Nocturne tilted his head. There where he was looking was the Mirror of Memories. It must have been blasted out of the truck in the first explosions. "That's what I came here for."

"The mirror…" Spirit struggled to move, but her body felt numb. She had to stop Nocturne. 'Come on! Move!'

"With this, it is mission accomplished." Nocturne picked up the mirror.

"Mmm…" Spirit forced herself on shaky knees. "Why…would you want…the mirror? You can already make an army."

"You think I would actually tell you?" Nocturne sneered. "No, you get to die in ignorance."

"Die, huh? I thought it was mission accomplished."

"Perhaps for now, but I know you halfas. It is you that always end up ruining the plans." Nocturne stood above the halfa. "It is always your fault. I think it would be best to end you now."

The ghost of sleep reached down and grabbed Spirit by her throat. With ease, Nocturne picked the girl up and dangled her in the air. The girl would have struggled, but once again the black energy around Nocturne seemed to erasing her energy.

"Moron…" Spirit managed to speak. "You think…I'll just give up…"

"Even the strongest will can do nothing when the body is weak." Nocturne noted. "Goodbye ghost gi-"

"Let her go!" Shadows jumped up from the ground and tried to hit Nocturne. They did nothing.

With a look of annoyance, Nocturne turned. "The daughter of Pandora…It is foolish to attack me."

"Let the Girl Scout go." Nyx warned.

"Or what?"

"Ala-blast him in face!" Youngblood sent a blast of ectoplasm from his wand. Like before, there was no effect.

"Gnats should not attack a giant." Nocturne sighed. Out of his black power ring came two energy hands. They instantly went to grab the two other children.

Both Youngblood and Nyx tried to dodge and destroy the arms. Nothing they did could stop the arms of energy, though. They did their best to avoid capture, but the arms were too fast. In seconds, they were captured.

"Gah!" Youngblood and Nyx struggled and failed to escape from the energy.

"You won't be able to get away." Nocturne remarked. "But if I remember correctly, there was one more child…yes, there you are."

"Azaroth Metrion Zin-" Nocturne's hand grabbed Rachel's head and stopped the words. In the process, he dropped the mirror, but it wouldn't be damaged by that.

"No you don't." Nocturne chuckled.

"Mhmhmhm!" Rachel tried to speak, but couldn't because Nocturne's hand on her mouth.

"Don't bite. I won't do anything." Nocturne mentioned.

"Mmm…"

"Well, then. That was easy." Nocturne commented.

"Is this where…you call…yourself a god?" Spirit struggled to speak.

"No, I was foolish to ever think that." Nocturne glared, but it wasn't at her. No, it was a glare at himself and his past beliefs. "I have met a read god, and I could never compare."

"God?" Nyx questioned through clenched teeth.

"It doesn't matter." Nocturne frowned. "All that matters in this moment is your death…"

* * *

Yeah…the fight wasn't going as well as Phantom wanted it to go. In his last fight with Jinx, he used her inability to work together with Walker to his advantage. Now, though, he no longer had such an advantage. Not only that, the duplicates had exhausted him more than he liked to admit.

"What's wrong!?" Jinx kicked Phantom's midsection. "You're a lot slower than when I first assessed you!"

Phantom grunted and moved back. He was running low on juice. Not only that, he couldn't use a widespread attack because of the limited room… "I don't know what you're talking about!"

He sent a combo of punches at Jinx. The girl expertly dodged the blows. She sent punches of her own at Phantom. Each one was blocked by the halfa. They continued with this exchange until Phantom sent an ectoplasmic powered knee at the girl. This attack caught a glancing blow on Jinx, but she avoided most of the damage.

Despite her aching ribs, Jinx blasted Phantom back with a hex bolt. "Don't lie! I can see it. You're strength, speed, and intensity have drastically dropped."

"Yeah, right!" Phantom sent a barrage of ecto-blasts at Jinx.

Jinx dodged each of them. She smirked. "Right, indeed. Before, you would have overpowered me by now."

"Not my style anymore!" Phantom went back to close combat.

Throughout the exchange, Jinx kept speaking. "Is that because you can't use that style?"

"Shut up!"

"It's true!" Jinx's eyes lit with delight as she kicked him away. "I can see it in your eyes. They're so much duller than before. It's probably a bunch of reasons."

Jab to Phantom's face. "Gassed out from fighting too much."

Cross punch to Phantom's sternum. "Hardened from seeing so much death from the war."

Spinning kick to Phantom's jaw. "Maybe it's a consequence of that super mode you went into."

Finally, she swept his legs and tossed him below her. Pinning him, she added. "Or it could be a combination of all three."

Phantom didn't give her the satisfaction of answering.

"Your face is all the answer I need." Jinx smirked.

'Phantom! The anti-virus has finished downloading! Now it's up to Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad.' Superboy mentally called.

Despite his situation, he smirked. "And what does my face tell you now?"

"…Victory…" Jinx frowned. She placed a hand over her ear. "Cheshire…What do you mean it's time to go…What happened to the Fog?...They what?!"

"You lose." Phantom stated happily.

"That's impossible!" Jinx glared down at him. "There's no way she could finish an anti-virus that fast."

"It is with a little new Fenton Tech."

"You…" Jinx's eyes widened. "You tricked me. I thought that I had enough to fight you. That's why you stalled…"

"Bingo…"

Jinx trembled in anger. "You bastard!"

She punched him in the face. "You made me fail! I hate failing!"

"Ack…didn't think you would be a sore loser…" Phantom groaned. "Never knew about the anger problem either…

"Who do you think you are!?" Jinx shouted as she kept punching him. "Who do you think you are to try and one up me like that!?"

She raised her hand. It glowed a dark pink. Phantom realized that this was a kill blow. He didn't have the energy to block it.

In his head, he quickly ran through his options. There was no way he could stop the attack physically. His teammates were too far away right now to help him. He was on his own.

He had to do something! But what can he do? Nothing Phantom could say would stop her. No, there was nothing he could do…

…As Phantom…

But he couldn't! No! There wasn't even a guarantee that it would work! And if it did…

Nevertheless, as the kill blow drew closer, Phantom's voice worked on its own. He just blurted it out.

"Nobody."

Jinx froze. Her fist was inches away from his face. Slowly, the pink energy faded. "What did you say?"

"…"

"Did…did he tell you?" Jinx questioned. "I can't believe he would tell you that. That was…our thing. How could he?"

"…"

"I…I can't…" Jinx stared at him. She examined him, his eyes, his face, and his soul. "He didn't tell you."

Then it all clicked.

In shock, Jinx stumbled back away from Phantom. Her face paled. Her eyes showed shock. "But you were in two places at once…The duplicates and the Disguise Belt...No way…"

"…Jen…"

"No!" Jinx looked at him desperately. "Why didn't you tell me!?"

"I couldn't." Phantom stood. "Please, I don't-"

They were interrupted by an arrow. Jinx had to dodge the green arrow as it zoomed to her head. Both teens turned to look at the entrance. Artemis and Miss Martian was there.

"Don't move." Artemis ordered.

"No…" Jinx shook her head. "I'm no longer in the mood."

"That doesn't-"

Boom! Pink energy exploded out. All three members of Young Justice had to move to avoid the explosion. Then, when the smoke had cleared, Jinx was gone.

"She's gone…" Artemis frowned.

"What happened?"

Phantom looked over at his teammates. "An old decision came back to save me."

"Okaaay…" Artemis didn't know what that meant. "Care to elaborate."

"Let's just say the forgiveness can go a long way." Phantom explained. "Anyway, did you handle Cheshire?"

"Yeah…well, it was mostly Artemis." M'gann blushed. "I got disorientated by her jellyfish poison. Luckily, my body altered itself to nullify the poison, but by the time I came too, Cheshire was gone."

"You handled her?" Phantom questioned.

"…Yeah…" Artemis handed him Cheshire's mask. "I handled it…"

"Good." Phantom nodded. "Well…Wally will be happy for the souvenir."

"Speaking of them…" Superboy walked into the room with Dr. Roquette. "How'd they do?"

"Let me find out…" Phantom placed a hand over his ear. "Phantom to Aqualad. Did you stop the Fog?"

"_Yes. Unfortunately, we couldn't save Star Labs, but we tracked the Fog to the user. We have captured Dr. Ojo and downloaded the anti-virus to the Fog_." Aqualad stated through the radio.

"Well…" Phantom stated. "That's done then."

"Mission accomplished." Artemis smirked.

"Thank you." Dr. Roquette stated. "I had my doubts, but…you pulled this off flawlessly. I didn't even see an assassin."

Phantom looked around the room. It was completely destroyed. "Well…I wouldn't say flawlessly."

* * *

If Spirit had suspected that anyone would interfere, she would not have it would be him. Her first guess would have been one of the ghosts. Then, a second guess would have been a member of the Justice League. To her shock, though, it was neither of them.

As the large shadow appeared over Nocturne, Spirit was surprised as a ball of greyish white muscle landed on top of Nocturne. "Grundy says leave little girl alone!"

The force of blow caused Nocturne to let go of the children. They all collapsed onto the ground. The black energy of the ring had taken its effect on the children.

Despite her shock over the situation, Spirit forced herself to act. She reached out and grabbed the mirror that Nocturne dropped. The halfa no longer had the energy to use ectoplasm, but she could still do this.

"GRAH!" Solomon Grundy was sent baralling back when Nocturne blasted him with the black power ring.

"Foolish girl, what do you plan to do with that?" Nocturne chuckled. "You can't use the mirror without energy."

"Don't plan to…" Spirit groaned. "But…I can still do this! Nyx!"

Spirit flung the mirror towards the shadow ghost. Gathering as much energy as she could, Nyx sent a wave of shadow energy at the mirror.

Crash! The mirror was shattered into hundreds of pieces.

"What!?" Nocturne's eyes widened. "That's impossible!"

"Don't ignore Grundy!" Solomon Grundy ran at Nocturne.

In anger, Nocturne batted Grundy away. Spirit was surprised to see the wall of muscle be flung away with such ease. "It can't be…The mirror can't be broken…"

"Well it is…" Rachel muttered.

"RAW!" Nocturne glared. "I'll kill you brats-Ah!"

A battered and bruised Plasmius blasted Nocturne from behind. "I think not."

Nocturne glared at the older halfa. "Grr…It appears that my Sleep Walkers have thinned out."

"Indeed." Plasmius prepared himself for battle.

"Fine then." Nocturne sighed. "You lucked out then. I don't know what that was, but it wasn't the Mirror of Memories. It's not here. That means that there is no reason to be here anymore. I will have to kill you halfas later."

"And you think I will just let you leave?"

"I think you don't have a choice." The entire area was covered in black light. The dark energy swirled all around them. In a flash, everything was silent.

"He's gone…" Youngblood noted.

"Yes," Plasmius knelt down by his daughter. "Are any of you harmed?"

"No…" Spirit noted as her father picked her up. "Just drained."

"Yes…" Plasmius nodded. "I know the feeling. That black energy…It was devastatingly strong."

"Nyx!" Pandora flew to her daughter and picked her up. "I knew I should never have let you follow us!"

"I'm fine, Mom." Nyx stated.

"So…" Visions stated as she approached the group. "The mirror was destroyed."

"Yes." Youngblood said as he was helped to his feet.

"Good. I shall show the Justice League." Vision informed them and left.

"Torch has to question what's with this big guy." Torch poked Solomon Grundy with his red and black scythe.

"If I remember correctly. His name is Grundy, correct?" Frostbite examined the downed monster.

"Yes..." The Fright Knight nodded as he helped Rachel. "He attacked Amity Park not too long ago."

"Torch heard he was captured." Torch commented. "Why is he here?"

"He must have escaped." Plasmius noted. "But...why would he come here?"

Spirit looked down at the large beast. "He saved us."

"Yeah! You should have seemed. He was boom! And Nocturne was like waa! And we were like woah..." Youngblood...tried to explain.

"Torch has to ask...what do we do with him?"

"We have to follow the humans rules...even if he saved the children." Pandora frowned.

"So we hand him to the League?" Frostbite questioned.

"It is the only choice we have."

Spirit looked down at the pale monster. She kept questioning why he came to save them...her. The halfa girl knew that they were connected somehow, but did Grundy know? If so, then that would explain his actions. He saw Dani as the only family he had. Yet here she was letting others decide his face.

It left a bad taste in her mouth.

* * *

(Tuesday-August 10, 2010)

"So that was your plan…" Phantom stated. After returning from his mission, the halfa returned home and heard what happened. Phantom wished that he could have been there to help, but after he explained about the Fog, there had been little complaints.

"Yes." Vision nodded. Once again, they were all gathered in the Masters Mansion. This time, though, there was some good news. "Now that the Justice League believes that the mirror is destroyed, there will be no argument when I take it back to the Ghost Zone for safe keeping."

"And how did you pull that off?"

"It was all thinks to young Rachel." Vision explained.

"Yes…" The girl nodded. "My magical energy hid the mirror's presence. No one knew that I switched the real mirror with the fake one in the chaos."

"How did you know that you would be attacked?" Phantom questioned.

"I didn't, but it was a possibility." Vision explained. "In case that happened, I wanted it to be our victory."

"That it was." Plasmius nodded.

"But what about Nocturne and Aragon?" Spirit questioned. "They're back and they have those…rings."

"Yes…" Fright Knight spoke up. "I remember that power…"

"As I explained to the Green Lantern, those rings have a complicated past." Vision explained. "Originally, they were created by the Reaper."

"Freakshow said his name was Nekron?" Spirit mentioned.

"Yes," Vision nodded. "He was embodiment of death and a consequence of the Reality Gauntlet."

"The Reality Gauntlet? How does that work?" Phantom questioned.

"There is the reason the Ghost Writer normally refuses to use his powers for more than teaching lessons." Fright Knight mentioned. "There are consequences for altering reality."

"Yes, remember, there are always consequences for actions. Even the smallest action can cause ripples." Vision explained. "Long ago, a man with good intentions created the Reality Gauntlet. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions. He saved lives and made the world better, but at the same time, he used a power that should not belong to mortals."

"And that was what created the Reaper?" Plasmius questioned. "The distortion in reality created a threat that was unequaled."

"No." Vision looked away. "That was what created ghosts."

"…Do you mean…" Rachel's eyes widened.

"Yes," Vision nodded. "None of us ghosts would exist if it weren't for the Reality Gauntlet."

"So…that's why this is the only planet with ghosts…" Phantom noted. "Because someone messed with death and reality here."

"Make no mistake, though, that vile gauntlet brought more destruction and death than you can even imagine." Fright Knight growled. "Don't forget that the Reaper was one of the first ghosts. The devastation he caused…"

"So there was good and bad, since the beginning for ghosts, huh?" Spirit mentioned.

"You have no idea." Vision seemed…scared. "There was a reason it took all of Fa…Pariah Dark and the King's Advisors powers to kill Nekron. And the reason for that was the black power rings."

"With those rings, the Reaper could transfer some of his power to others." Fright Knight explained.

"Some?" Spirit questioned. "That ring…It was something else. There was nothing I could do against Nocturne."

"And it was also why the Justice League couldn't fight off Aragon. Combining the power of his amulet and the ring is devastating." Vision noted. "The power of the black power rings is one to be feared and respected."

"But why are the rings still around if the Reaper was killed?" Phantom questioned.

"Many of the rings survived the final battle." Vision explained. "They have appeared from time to time. We have hunted down most of them and destroyed them. Hopefully, these will be the last two."

"Aren't you worried about this?" Plasmius questioned. "Those rings are dangerous."

"Of course, but I don't believe Nocturne and Aragon will do anything foolish right now." Vision noted. "They have some sort of goal. I will continue to investigate."

"Not to mention how the Green Lanterns will be looking into it as well." Phantom noted. "And with that happening, are you certain they won't find out about the mirror?"

"Don't worry. I will hide the mirror in a place no one will find it." Vision stated.

"Okay then…"

After the meeting, Spirit left with Rachel to talk. Once outside, the halfa said, "You did great today."

"Thanks, it was fun…except the part where we almost died." Rachel noted.

"Yeah, although, I think Nyx might under house arrest for a while…" Spirit frowned. "It might be boring for a while."

"With you it's never boring." Rachel stated.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should…by the way…"

"Yeah?"

"Do you need any help…you know…patrolling?"

"Oh…That would be great! But…your mom?"

"I'll figure something out. I…just want to do some more good for people."

"I'm sure you will, Rachel."

"Call me Raven."

* * *

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Artemis!" Phantom knocked on his friend's door. "You there?"

It was currently mid-afternoon. Phantom needed to talk to his new teammate, but he couldn't appear in Gotham as a hero, and Artemis didn't know about his duel life. So, Phantom was wearing a toboggan hat to hide his white hair and sunglasses to hide his glowing green eyes. His clothes were simple jeans and a blue t-shirt.

The door cracked opened, but was still chain locked. Phantom had to look down to see the person answering the door. The woman had dark hair and eyes. She was of middle age, but could pass as younger. Oh…and she was in a wheelchair.

"Hello, can I help you?" The woman questioned.

"I'm sorry. I must have the wrong apartment." Phantom scratched his head. It had been a while since he'd been there. "I'm looking for Artemis Crock."

"I'm her mother." The woman stated. "Are you her friend?"

"…You could say that." Phantom eyed the woman. "Do you now about her new…extracurricular activity?"

"Oh…" Mrs. (Miss?) Crock's eyes widened. "That."

"Yeah, can I come in? I need to speak to her." Phantom requested.

"Of course." Artemis' mom unchained the door and let him in. "Come in."

"Thank you." Phantom nodded.

"Artemis!" The woman called. "A friend is here!"

"What?" The blond walked into the room. She was now dressed in civilian clothes. "Who…"

"Hey, Artemis." Phantom removed his hat and glasses.

"You're…" Artemis' mother stared at him.

"Don't gawk, Mom." Artemis frowned.

"Well, it's not every day a ghost walks into my home." The woman noted.

Phantom eyed Artemis. Her mom obviously didn't know about his last visit here.

"Well, I'm sorry to just drop by, but I needed to talk to Artemis." Phantom stated.

"Okay."

"Mom, I think he means alone." Artemis mentioned.

"Whatever you say in front of my daughter you can say in front of me." Mrs. Crock frowned at the ghost.

"No offence, Mrs. Crock, but that's not true." Phantom corrected.

"He's right, Mom. This is Young Justice business." Artemis nodded.

"Fine…" The woman sighed. "Keep your door open, though."

Artemis rolled her eyes.

Phantom just chuckled, though. "Don't worry. My girlfriend would tear my balls off for just thinking about cheating…That and I'm pretty sure you or your daughter could kill me."

"True enough."

When they were out of ear shock, Artemis smirked at the halfa. "Girlfriend, huh? You never mentioned that before."

"It never came up before." Phantom stated as they walked into Artemis' room. He was surprised that it was rather plain. The only qualities that stood out were the two beds and Alice in Wonderland poster. It was obvious that someone else lived in this room with Artemis once. It was probably a sibling.

"Do the others, know?"

"Er…"

Artemis laughed. "Oh, this is good. I'm soooo gonna enjoy telling them."

"Whatever…" Phantom shrugged. "So…Is that one of the parents that didn't care about me being here a few months ago?"

"…Yeah…" Artemis nodded.

"It seems like she cares a lot." The halfa mentioned.

"Well…that's new, okay?"

"…Okay." Phantom asked no more.

"Thanks…So, what did you want something?"

"Yeah, there is…"

"Then what is it?" Artemis questioned.

"Is there a reason you joined the team?" Phantom asked his friend.

"Yeah," Artemis nodded. "Batman and GA asked me to…"

"And you weren't concerned?" Phantom asked.

"No, should I be?" Artemis questioned.

"You aren't a side…partner to a hero. You have no connection with the League." Phantom explained. "Why would they ask someone they didn't even know?"

"You don't have a connection to the League either." Artemis snapped. She was annoyed with his questioning. "Maybe they were just impressed by us."

"Exactly." Phantom hung his head. "We made an impression. They know that eventually we could become a threat. That's why they're trying to get us on their side."

"Tsk…" Artemis looked away. "Why are you saying this?"

"The same reason I was worried about you being a vigilante in Gotham." Phantom explained. "You're my friend."

"I…thanks…" Artemis sighed. "But I can handle myself."

"I know." Phantom nodded. "But I just want to ask you if this is what you want. I can guarantee you that a hero's life is a lot harder than it looks. Not only that, you're on a team. You're going to have to trust the others to protect your life. Can you do that?"

"I…I don't know. But I can try."

"Yeah…" Phantom sighed. "But sometimes trying isn't good enough."

* * *

"The Mirror of Memories was destroyed." Joel heard a voice close to his cage speak. Despite this, he continued to pretend to be asleep.

"No it wasn't." A dark gravelly voice answered. "That mirror is nearly indestructible. But it's no longer our concern, old friend. The ghosts probably hid it, and if its Vision's fault, then we won't be able to get to it. What really concerns me are the black power rings."

"Yes, you told me about those, Vandal." The first voice spoke. "Do you believe that the rings appeared because of the Reality Gauntlet?"

"I don't know, but it is possible, Lex." Vandal's voice noted. "Either way, the Light will need to focus on finding both Freakshow and the ghosts with the power rings."

Lex's voice chuckled. "It seems that we have the Justice League and the ghosts on our side with those goals."

"Yes, everyone understands the danger and destruction that could happen because of them." Vandal sound displeased.

"You witnessed the Reaper first hand if I remember correctly."

"Yes…it is not a pleasant memory." Vandal sound pained. "The world was set aflame. Millions died. Entire races went extinct."

"That's not a pleasant thought." Lex noted.

"No, it's not. It would completely destroy all that we have worked for, if it happens again." Vandal stated.

"Then we will have to stop it."

Joel continued to listen as they walked away. He recognized those voices. They were partners of the Master. If the boy remembered correctly, they were both cool headed and calm individuals. If these Freakshow and ghosts worried them so much, then they were bigger threats than Joel can even begin to imagine.

Despite this, though, Joel was more worried about another piece of information. The mirror everyone wanted was now out of the picture. That meant that the Ghoul Project would continue on without any more delay.

'It will be my turn soon…' Joel thought. And when that happened…

His story will be over.

* * *

**Bonding Moment: Kid Flash**

"Are you ready for this?" Wally glared.

"Oh, you know it." Phantom glared back. "I'm so going to win."

"In your dreams."

Robin stood up and commented. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages. Welcome to the first annual Young Justice Eat-off!"

"This is so stupid." Artemis noted.

"Yep," Superboy nodded. "Who'd you bet for?"

"Kid Mouth. You?"

"I went with the guy that can literally put food though his skin into his stomach."

"Good point."

"You both know the rules." M'gann, the official ref, stated. "Whoever eats the most in five minutes wins. You are allowed to use your powers to eat, but you can't interfere with your opponent's eating."

"Why did you agree to referee this?" Kaldur questioned.

M'gann shrugged. "They asked and it gave me a chance to try some new recipes."

"Thanks again, beautiful!" Wally smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to win for you."

"No way! I have the perfect plan." Phantom stated. "I'm totally going to win."

"Dream on, Inviso-Bill!"

"I never approved that name!"

"You two ready?" Robin questioned as he held up the timer.

"You know it."

"I was born ready."

"Alright. Ready…Set…Go!"

And thus the feasting began. Phantom created three duplicates and had each of them eat alongside him. Wally merely stuffed as much food as possible down his throat. In the blink of an eye, the food began to disappear.

Not all the food went into the teen's stomachs, though. A lot of it was flung all over the place. You can imagine that disgust of the rest of the team as they dodged the storm of food being flung at them.

After five minutes of this, the timer went off.

"And stop!" Robin called.

"Who won?" Superboy questioned.

"And the winner is…Wally!" M'gann raised the speedster's arm.

"Yeah! I'm the king!"

"King of pigs, maybe…" Artemis muttered.

"Dude, there were four of me! How did you eat more than four people while remembering to breathe?" Phantom questioned.

"It's a talent." Wally shrugged.

"Pretty useless talent." Superboy remarked.

"You are truly a worthy foe." Phantom complimented.

"You're not so bad yourself." Wally stated. "You were pretty close to beating me."

"This is the weirdest thing to bond over." Kaldur commented.

"Meh, whatever works, right?" Robin noted.

"Next year, I'll have to make more duplicates." Phantom stated. "That way, I'll totally win."

"I'll have to work on my technique." Wally agreed.

"Wait…You're actually going to make this an annual thing?" Superboy questioned.

"Oh, completely."

"Of course!"

Artemis placed her face in her hands. "You're both so disgusting…"

"Thank you!"

* * *

**Ah...I love Spring Break. Not much of a party person, but I love the chance to relax.**

**Quick note: For everyone that remembers this episode of YJ, it took place on August 8, not 9. August 8, 2010, however, is on a Sunday. Wally went back to school on this day, so it couldn't be on August 8. Thus I changed the dates of this chapter to fit that logic. Not a big change, but it would have bothered me if I didn't change it.**

**It has been pointed out to me that my portrayal of some DC characters such as Cassandra Cain are different than in the comics. Please note, that I know this. I have my reasons for making minor changes to the characters. For example, it would be nearly impossible to portray Cassandra from a different perspective is she couldn't originally speak like in the comics. I am aware that she couldn't talk before meeting Batman. As such, there will also be changes to other characters too.**

**Captain America: Winter Soldier comes out soon. I'm excited, but I wish I didn't know who the Winter Soldier was. That's the bad part of knowing a lot about comics. It ruins some of the twists in the movies. Oh, well...**

**Thank you all for reading and please remember to...**

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